Mind Games
by princessm1090
Summary: Musa decides that she is tired of waiting for Riven to make a move. So, she has taken matters into her own hands and plays some mind games of her own. But, will things work out the way she hoped? All is fair in love and war. MxR!
1. New Beginnings

_I am a high school senior, so I know all about the little games boys and girls play when they like each other and after almost four years in high school, I seem to have mastered some of my own. This fanfic is based on the games we all know we play. (Get off your high horse you know you have)._

_Anyway…this is the sequel to my oneshot 'Stranded' you should read it to get how I am filling in the blanks on Musa and Riven's relationship, but this picks up right after 'Stranded' ends. _

_I love the relationship between Musa and Riven because they are the perfect example of a couple who you would see in real life. (I'm sorry but I don't buy the whole 'we met and fell in love and I don't mind that he was engaged while he was with me' thing. It is too perfect and convenient and so unrealistic. This story is set in the second season, but I decided that I want the girls to already know Layla. Also, I want Musa to have long hair because she looks so much better with it. One more thing, I got inspiration for this fanfic from a very popular satiric novel written by a popular female writer. I'll give you a hint, one of her most famous female characters is full of pride and hypocritically she condemns the man she loves because he also hold the same flaw. The novel I am talking about will become more apparent as the story goes on, it resembles it a bit. _

_I hope you enjoy!

* * *

_

**New Beginnings **

In one of the dorm rooms in one of the most prestigious fairy academies in the magical dimension was the princess of the Harmonic Nebula. She stood in the same dorm room that she stood in the year before at this time, except now she was a sophomore. It was completely empty except for the two desks and two beds in the room, Musa stood in the middle of the room and put down the one bag she had in her hand and smiled as she waited for her servants to bring up the rest of the bags. She was the first of her whole group of friends to arrive and she decided she would take a head start on unpacking especially before Stella got there because she knew the princess would make them all go shopping. Musa smiled at the thought and then opened the door wider when she saw all of her bags coming in with her servants.

"You guys can put them down there," Musa said and pointed to the center of the room. And her servants nodded and put the bags down. When some of the maids began to unpack for her, she told them they could go back to the palace, there were some things she wanted to do on her own. Musa began to unpack, first was her favorite ipod and the speakers that connected to it, it began to play some of her favorite music and unpacked the rest of her belongings. A couple hours later Musa was putting her CD's on the carefully organized rack that probably couldn't hold all of the music she was attempting to pile on it, when she heard the door to the common room open. She walked out of her room to see Stella walk in holding a bag in her hand.

"Stella!" Musa said happily and walked over to the princess to give her a hug.

"MUSA! I missed you!" Stella said and began to unpack as well. Musa decided to help her since most of her room was unpacked and organized.

The two chatted for a bit before the rest of the girls arrived that afternoon. When all the girls were finally there, they all congregated in the common room and chatted about their respective summers. Bloom and Stella had visited their respective boyfriends over the summer, Techna hadn't seen Timmy at all and Flora and Layla were still single. As for Musa, she had spent some time with her ex, but that was so over. The girls sat in the common room for hours to catch up with each other and they all told each other what they had done over the summer. After awhile Stella got a text from Brandon asking her to come to Red Fountain since the guys had just arrived and were unpacking.

"How about we go to Red Fountain and see the guys!" Stella exclaimed happily. Stella had tried to set up Flora and Musa with different guys a million times, especially after Musa broke up with her ex during their freshman year. She was like the pushy mother that wanted her daughters to get boyfriends.

"We will see them tomorrow at the dance," Bloom began "Besides, I'm having fun catching up," The girls were now in a circle on the floor eating a bunch of junk food.

"Yeah, we can see them then," Techna said and began to blush a bit when she thought about Timmy and seeing him again.

"Fine, we don't have to go…" Stella would have made a comment about Techna and Timmy when she noticed that Musa had been quiet all night. She had wondered why Musa had become quiet when Stella broached the subject of dating and boys about 20 minutes ago. She didn't know if she could call her out on it in front of everyone, but she pushed away the brief moment empathy and asked. "So Musa, you've been quiet,"

"No I haven't, its just in comparison to you…" Musa joked instead of telling the girls what was really bothering her.

"Hey!" Stella shouted in disagreement.

"Stella, who are you trying to kid? But, she's right," Bloom said turning her attention away from Stella and focusing on Musa. "You have been a little quiet,"

"I'm fine, really" Musa insisted.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with a magenta haired hero with a bad attitude would it?" Stella asked. She knew that Musa and Riven had left their relationship very undefined last year and if it were her, she would probably be very sick of the mind games he was playing.

"No." Musa lied. It was completely about Riven and the limbo they were in, but she didn't want her friends to make a big deal about it, so she just let it go. Musa was positive, or pretty sure that things weren't going to progress with Riven.

Stella let the subject go for now, she didn't want to anger Musa so early in the year, she would have plenty of time to do that later. She changed the subject to other things and the girls decided to remain in the dorm for the rest of the night chatting about their summers. Musa decided to keep quiet about her little fling with her ex-boyfriend since the girls had sworn their hate towards him after he and Musa broke up. At mid night the girls decided to get some sleep, they were all looking forward to the dance, even Musa.

Musa laid in her bed and thought about Riven, she really did have feelings towards him. He may have been an ass to her, but she knew underneath all of that he was a good person, he just had a tough front. She always wondered what could have happened to him to make him so guarded, but she knew he would never open up to her. Then, she thought about what her friends from back home had told her.

* * *

**Flashback - -**

On the Harmonic Nebula in the royal palace, Musa was lying on her stomach on her bed idly flipping through a magazine listening to her ipod as her friends sat around her talking.

"Musa, you really need to get over Daniel. I mean it you can't just make out with him every time you come home." Leslie scolded. Daniel was the prince of a neighboring planet and he and Musa had dated for a year and at the end of Musa's freshman year at Alfea the two had broken up. They seemed to have kept things on friendly terms. "Especially not because you are depressed about that Riven guy,"

"I am over Daniel," Musa protested.

"Really, you could have fooled us," Isabelle said as she looked over to her twin sister, Annabelle, who nodded in agreement.

"Ugh! I don't know what's wrong with me! I don't even like Daniel, it's just nice to be wanted," Musa said a little embarrassed and then looked back down.

"You really like him, don't you?" Leslie inquired. She stood from her seat across the room and sat next to Musa on her bed. "This Riven guy, I mean,"

'I don't know, I guess," Musa complained and buried her head in her bed. She was so confused with Riven, he admitted that he liked her at the end of the year. But then, he did nothing about it, if anything he got more distant afterwards. Musa lifted her head and looked back at her friends. "I don't even know if he is still interested in me, or if he ever was,"

"Well there's a way to find out," Annabelle said with a sly smile and tossed the same look to her sister, who automatically knew what her sister was talking about. Both of them stood up and walked over to Musa and knelt down in front of her bed.

"What do you mean?" Musa asked skeptically almost a little afraid of what her friends were going to tell her.

"If he wants to play mind games, then you can too," Isabelle began.

"Go out with someone from Red Fountain, and not just someone, a guy that pisses him off," Annabelle continued.

"Or a guy that is better than him at something, guys hate being beaten," Isabelle said picking up right where her sister ended. "And make sure to be affectionate, but not too affectionate,"

"No, that's so silly and childish," Musa said looking to Leslie for some support on the subject. Leslie was the most level headed of the three and she figured she would get some back up from her.

"Umm…I think that would work. Hate to admit it, but the twins have a point," Leslie said after some thought on the matter. Musa had described Riven in great detail before and he seemed like the kind of guy who was a bit possessive of the things he loved. If he did have feelings for Musa, then seeing her with someone else would surely drive him crazy. Hopefully that would lead to him making a move. At the very least Musa would know if he had feelings for her.

"Hey, it had to happen some time," Isabelle said not the least bit offended by Leslie's statement.

"You guys know I hate mind games, they are so juvenile. What will my dating someone else prove?" Musa asked.

"Fine, don't take our advice. You never have to find out if he likes you or not and you can come back home during your breaks and hook up with Daniel. Who knows maybe you will get back together," Annabelle said knowing how Musa would react to the comment.

"I'll think about it," Musa said and cringed at the thought of getting back together with her ex.

* * *

- - - -

The next day, the girls spent most of the morning and the bulk of their afternoon finishing unpacking. They then began to get ready for the dance. Stella was the most excited, which was no surprise. After they finished getting ready the girls went out to the quad that was decorated very ornately with lights. The six of them stood waiting for the boys to arrive. Musa and Layla really didn't want to wait for them, but they were friends with the guys too so they didn't want to be rude. Finally, about 10 minutes later the guys started to arrive and their favorite group of specialists approached the front gate.

"Who's the new guy?" Bloom said as she smiled at Sky when their eyes met. Bloom waved for them to come over and say hello and the group of boys did just that. Flora looked over to the guy Bloom was referring to and looked at him, she felt attracted to him and the feeling made her blush. When Helia saw Sky wave, he looked up and saw Flora looking at him and smiled. The two blushed at the same time and looked away. Flora looked at her friends and eagerly waited meeting him.

"I think his name is Helia, he's Saladin's grandson," Stella said not averting her gaze from Brandon. "And he's. Mr. Grumpy's new roommate," Stella said throwing a look to Musa when she mentioned Riven.

"What? Can we please forget about that," Musa asked as she rolled her eyes. "He is so arrogant and full of pride. Plus, I think we settled everything between us before summer started," Musa said brushing away the twig of attraction she felt when she saw Riven walking in.

"And by 'settle' you mean…" Stella asked second before the guys approached them.

"I'll tell you later, I am going to go say hi to the girls from the dance team," Musa said and then walked away from the group right before the guys got there. While all the others were distracted by the girls, Riven noticed Musa walk away just as he and the others approached her group of friends. Riven couldn't help but feel a bit hurt when she did, he didn't know if it was because of him, but he wanted to see her and talk to her. He knew he couldn't and if Musa avoided him, it would make staying away from her a lot easier. He didn't look away from her though, he might have told himself to stay away from her but that didn't mean he could admire her from afar.

While the guys were busy talking to their girlfriends, Helia approached Flora. He was beyond scared of approaching such a beautiful girl. He managed to get out a 'hello' and talk to her for a couple of minutes before she was whisked away from him by one of her friends that she had met the year before. The two defiantly had a connection which a lot of the girls seemed to notice, but the were both so shy. Hopefully this wouldn't be a repeat of the relationship that Musa and Riven had, or have.

Helia then walked over to Riven, since he was the only person he knew that wasn't preoccupied with a girlfriend. Helia walked over and stood next to him, Helia noticed that Riven didn't even realize that he was standing there. That was when he noticed Riven was staring rather intently at a girl with long blue hair, he also noticed the look of longing in his eyes. In the short time that Helia had talked to Flora, he found out about the Winx Club and how they were practically sisters. Helia may have only known Riven for a week or so, but he already knew better than if he liked the girl, especially since she was in earshot.

Musa, who had been the first freshman to become a member of Alfea's dance team, was talking to girls that were probably going to try out. She had now, in her sophomore year, become the captain, but of coarse being the princess of the Harmonic Nebula, dancing and singing were in her blood. Being on the dance team was like being in the 'A-crowd' at Alfea and a lot of girls were dieing to be in it. Musa was used to the whole vicious social circle thing, she did grow up around people who cared only about social standing, but at Alfea, everyone was a lot nicer. She talked to the girls for awhile when she noticed Riven was looking at her. She then pretended to listen to the girls, but instead she was trying to listen to Riven talk to the new guy.

"Why don't you go ask her to dance," Helia said to Riven when he was sure that Musa couldn't hear them.

At first Riven looked at Helia with a 'how dare you' kind of look on his face, but he figured if he acted like an ass that Helia might think that Riven had something to hid. So instead, Riven made it seem like he wasn't interested in anyone. "Who?"

"That girl you're looking at, the one with the blue hair,"

"I'm not looking at her, plus I defiantly don't want to be around _her_." Riven said acting as if he were repulsed by the thought of him being interesting in someone like Musa.

Musa, who was listening, took complete offense to what Riven had said. She turned her attention back to her friends and pretended like she didn't care, even though she did. Musa honestly didn't understand what was happening, two weeks before school ended, Riven had said he like her and after that he ignored her again. She went on with her night like nothing had happened. She didn't even talk to Riven, when she passed him, she gave him a dirty look and walked away, she knew it was petty, but he did piss her off to some extent. Musa may have had feelings for him, but she refused to acknowledge it because he was so damn proud. She was not going to be like so many of the other girls at Alfea that fell for his whole bad boy persona. But, it seemed like it was too late. Deep down she knew she had fallen hard for him, but it was obvious her feelings would never be returned so she was not going to dwell on it.

When Musa looked at the time she realized it was almost time for her and her dance team to perform. She quickly went into Alfea and got into her dance outfit and got ready for her performance.

"Attention students," said Ms. Faragonda to the crowd of students. Everyone quieted down except the seniors, who pretty much ran their respective schools. When they finally quieted, Ms. Faragonda continued. "As many of you may know, the Alfea Dance Team performs at every social event between our three schools. This year we have a new captain, Princess Musa Dannington. And now without further adew, I present the dance team," Ms. Faragonda finished. When the girls stepped into the center of the dance floor, the lights were low and everyone began to cheer. Anyone who had seen the team perform knew that the dance team was good.

The dance team always performed at events where all three schools were invited and this mixer was no different. As captain, Musa was center stage during the entire routine and her shaking around on the stage definitely caught a few eyes. Riven, who was entranced by her, didn't seem to notice, but the same wasn't for the Winx Club. They looked at their friend who seemed to be having a lot of fun and then Stella looked around at the crowd. Musa had the attention of almost every guy in the quad.

This always happened when Riven was around Musa, his entire being was different. He couldn't help but smile when he saw her shaking and moving about. She was so sexy when she hit every move perfectly and Riven seemed to jar a bit when she would do a dramatic step. Riven felt his mouth go dry and his pulse quicken slightly as the team swayed and moved into bolder dance moves that elicited a few scoffs from Griselda, Riven however did not mind watching Musa twist and turn the way she did.

* * *

"Who's the girl in the center?" said a Red Fountain senior, Jason Warren, as he turned his attention away from his friends and onto the blue eyed fairy on the stage. He was leaning against the wall in the quad and didn't pay much attention to anyone else, since he was always the center of attention anyway. But Musa, Musa was so hypnotizing, he had to know more about her.

"That's Princess Musa, she's captain of Alfea dance team," said his best friend Gideon who was standing next to him. Gideon was a little surprised that Jason was looking at Musa when so many other girls were practically throwing themselves at him.

"She's…hot," said Jason as he watched Musa sway her hips and do the dance routine flawlessly. He was in a trance very similar to Riven's, but he probably had a better chance with Musa now that

"She's a sophomore," Gideon stated thinking it would deter Jason's interest.

"Your point?"

"Nothing man," Gideon said and then talked to the other guys as Jason watched Musa. The girl intrigued him, to say the least.

"I think I want to get to know her," Jason said with a smile as he walked away from his group of friends and towards the princess as she finished the routine. Gideon nodded his head in amusement, Jason may have been really good with the opposite sex, but he didn't know about Musa's record for turning down almost every guy that approached her.

"Musa, right?" Jason said from behind Musa. She was talking to some girl that excused herself when Jason interrupted. He gave Musa a dreamy smile and Musa couldn't help but smile back at the very good looking man in front of her.

"Yeah, and you are?" Musa inquired. She had seen him before, but they had never met.

"Jason Warren, I'm a senior at Red Fountain," Jason said charmingly and took Musa's hand and kissed it. "Very nice to meet you,"

Musa couldn't help but blush, she was not used to this type of attention. "It's nice to meet you too," Musa said and felt a bit awkward when she didn't have much else to say.

"You are an amazing dancer," he said breaking the ice, he decided to leave out that he thought she was the sexiest thing when she was shaking her ass on the floor.

"Thanks, I don't mean to be rude, but I have to talk to some people," Musa said trying to get away from Jason. She thought he was nice but she knew his type and there was no need to get into that.

"I don't want to keep you, or do I?" he said with a smirk growing.

"I'll see you later," Musa smiled trying not to show him that she was a bit on edge.

"You can bet on it," Jason smiled back and gave her a kiss on the cheek before she walked away.

For the rest of the night Musa and Jason seemed to run into each other and Musa figured out that it was no accident. The girls hadn't noticed that she and Jason had been dancing around each other all night, except for Stella. She would badger Musa about it later.

Riven had been keeping his eye on Musa all night as well and he was admittedly jealous when he saw Musa and Jason together. But, it seemed like she wasn't interested in him so he didn't have anything to worry about just yet. He would however, keep his eye on Jason, Riven wasn't ready to see Musa with someone else. When all the guys left Musa said goodbye to them, except for Riven who she ignored because she was still angry about his comment earlier.

Everyone went back to their respective dorms and all the girls chatted about the night for a couple minutes and the girls mostly asked Flora about Helia since the two talked for awhile towards the end of the night.

Before anyone could broach the subject of Jason, Musa excused herself and went to bed. She was thinking about Riven, then Jason and then about what Annabelle and Isabelle said. Maybe she wasn't above playing a simple little game, but she couldn't do that. It wasn't like her to play with emotions.

But everyone is entitled to know if someone had feelings for them, right? And all is fair in love and war.

* * *

_Musa is considering this Jason Warren fellow. I hope it doesn't blow up in her face…_

_xoxo,_

_princessm_


	2. Meet Jason Warren

_Thanks for the support on this story. This chapter goes into the relationship between Musa and Jason. Hope you like it! _

_Chapter 2! Here we go!

* * *

_

**Meet Jason Warren**

The next day at Red Fountain, Helia had decided that he was going to stay at the school for heroics even though he was a pacifist by nature. He had already made friends with Sky, Brandon, Timmy and Riven. Well, he thought he was friends with Riven, but it was hard to be sure. Riven had basically taken him under his wing and told him everything he needed to know about Red Fountain, and at the same time he was scary and intimidating. There was another reason Helia wanted to stay in Magix, he had met Flora the night before and even though he had only talked to her for an hour, he had taken a very strong liking to her. Helia began to wonder how often Red Fountain guys saw the Alfea girls, Helia was far too shy to go see Flora after he only spoke to her for an hour. He needed some type of pretense.

"Hey, I was wondering if we ever go on missions with the fairies at Alfea," Helia asked Riven, who was sitting at the other side of the room on his laptop. Riven looked to Helia and would have ignored him., but it seemed that his new roommate was as far gone as the rest of his friends when it came to a fairy.

"Sometimes, you get used to it," Riven said going back to his work. It was the first day of classes and he already had a bunch of work to do and he really didn't need his new roommate to be gushing about Flora 24/7. Especially since Flora was practically Musa's sister, he really didn't need more opportunities to be around Musa, it was hard enough to forget about her now.

"Oh okay," Helia tried to hide the excitement in his voice, but he failed horribly. Riven looked back at him and rolled his eyes. What was Saladin thinking making him room with Helia, a pacifist and Riven? It wasn't the best idea, but Riven really didn't mind Helia too much.

* * *

"Attention students…students…STUDENTS!" Griselda shouted to quiet the girls down. It was the first day of classes at Alfea as well and most of the girls were talking about their summers and the dance more than anything. Bloom, Stella, Layla and Musa were all in this class together and they were among the girls talking about the night. Stella had just broached the subject of Jason when Griselda hushed everyone. 

"I would like to welcome all of you girls back to school and also welcome you to advanced potions cl –," Griselda was cut of by two Red Fountain freshman walking into the class, both of them were holding bouquets of flowers. "Excuse me! You boys cannot be in here, we are holding class," Neither of the two answered, probably because Griselda was the kind of person that could instill fear in anyone. Both boys were obviously scared and they looked like they were going to be sick when a bunch of fairies were staring at him.

"We were instructed to give these flowers to Musa Dannington," said one of the freshmen after a couple of moments. All the girls turned to Musa, who was surprised to see that two huge bouquets of roses were for her. The two freshmen walked the flowers over to Musa and promptly left.

"Oh my god!! Who are they from!?!" Stella screamed paying no attention to the look that was on Griselda's face. Musa simply smiled and took the flowers after and put them on the floor.

"I'll look at them later," Musa said quietly trying not to anger Griselda anymore than she already was. Musa did manage to get a look at the card and during class, while Griselda was handing out the class syllabus, Musa took one of the cards and opened it. All it said was '1.' She then took the other card and opened it. '2.' Musa was not sure what to make of this. When she first got the flowers she thought they might be from Jason, but these weren't signed by anyone and she thought that maybe they weren't meant for her. But, whoever sent them had gone through a certain amount of trouble and risked getting in a lot of trouble.

Stella, Bloom and Layla waited very impatiently for the class to end so they could see the card that came with the flowers and the note on the inside. Stella had a suspicion that it was Jason who sent them, but by the confused look on Musa's face, it could have very well been someone else.

Finally class ended and the three girls went over to Musa and admired the flowers while questioning her. "I don't know, this is all I got," Musa said and she showed the notes that came with the flowers to the girls. The four walked back to their dorm, Musa carrying her bouquets of flowers in her arms, the smell of the roses was very pleasant though.

"I don't get it, why wouldn't someone send you flowers and take no credit for it?" Stella asked as she took the roses from Musa and gave them a careful inspection looking for something that Musa may have missed. She didn't find anything, but she still had a feeling they were from Jason. She handed the flowers back to Musa and thought about the moment. "What do you think that the '1' and the '2' meant?" Stella asked.

"Well, three comes after two, maybe there will be more flowers," Bloom suggested and that was when the four girls stopped, in front of their dorm door and stared at a giant vase full of at least 3 dozen roses. "Wow, I called that," Just as Bloom said that, Techna walked up to the door and saw all of the flowers. She asked what was going on and Layla filled her in quickly.

Musa looked at the flowers and handed the other flowers to Layla. She picked up the heavy vase and Bloom opened the door for her as she walked in with the beautiful arrangement of flowers. Musa put the flowers down on the table in the middle of the room and looked around the roses for a card. She and Stella searched and they both found a card. "There are two of them," Stella handed the card she found to Musa and Musa opened them both. One of the cards said '3'. Musa showed the cards to the girls who all told her to open the next one and when she opened it, there was an actual note. Musa read it over first and smiled.

Stella, who was too impatient to wait for Musa to tell them what it said, took the card from Musa and read it to Layla, Bloom and Techna. The card said:

_Third time's the charm._

_I made the first move, it's your turn. I'll be in the Red Fountain quad at 3pm, don't keep me waiting…. _

_Jason Warren_

"That's so romantic! And Jason Warren…damn!" Stella squealed excitedly. Musa looked at all the flowers and smiled. She thought Jason was good looking, but she didn't feel anything. That was probably because she had feelings for Riven and all she could do while Stella read the note aloud was hope that Riven had sent them. She knew he would never do that, but it was nice to hope.

"Stella! Remember Brandon…your boyfriend," Techna reminded Stella.

"I love Brandon and I would never pick anyone over him. But, Jason Warren! He is the hottest guy in the school, not to mention he's a senior and he practically runs Red Fountain," Stella knew all about Jason, which was why she was so interested if he and Musa had something going on. Jason was Mr. Popular at Red Fountain, all the girls wanted him and all the guys wanted to be him. Everyone was familiar with him, but the girls had never really talked to him since they were sophomores and he was a senior, it wasn't like they ever hung out.

"So Musa, are you going to see him?" Bloom asked and then looked at the clock, it was 2:15, so she didn't have much time to make her decision.

"I don't know," Musa replied and walked into her room carrying the two bouquets of flowers and leaving the giant vase out in the common room. Musa put the flowers in a single vase and put them by the window. She stepped back and stared at them. Musa was sure of her feelings for Riven and she wasn't sure if she could go through with the plan that Isabelle suggested. Musa was mulling it over when Flora walked into her room.

"I saw the flowers," Flora said and sat down on a chair that was at Musa's desk.

"Yeah, Jason Warren sent them." Musa answered back and turned her attention to her friend.

"Yeah, Stella told me. She's pretty excited," Flora said and then laughed at the fact that Stella was more excited than Musa was. Then Flora began to wonder why she was more excited than Musa. "Are you going to go see him?"

Musa wanted to say no, instead she asked Flora's opinion.

"Should I?" Musa asked still unsure if she should go. Musa hadn't told anyone of her little plan because she herself thought that it was very childish. Musa could think of a million reasons to go, Jason was charming, nice, hot. But, she had met his type, hell she had dated his type and frankly, she wasn't very attracted to it.

"I saw you talking to him last night, he seems nice and he seems to like you. I think you should give him a chance," Flora suggested. Flora had always liked the thought of Musa and Riven being together, she always thought that Riven truly cared for Musa, but he was not good at showing it. But, Flora thought that her friend deserved to be treated the way that Jason was treating her.

"I think you're right," Musa agreed. Sure she liked Riven, but he had kept her in limbo for so long and she was not going to be the girl who waited forever just to find out that the guy she had feelings for her never returned the sentiments. Jason wanted her and she liked the feeling of being wanted, plus if she decided to put her plan into action than Jason was the perfect guy to use to get Riven jealous. "So, how about you and Helia?"

Flora began to blush profusely and she looked at the ground and played with her fingers. "I don't know, but I think he liked me…" Flora really didn't know how explain how she felt around Helia, all she knew was that she liked him. And she hoped he like her too.

"I think he likes you a lot too," Musa said. She saw the nature fairy's face light up when she said that. Musa could tell that Flora really liked Helia and she was happy that Flora had someone besides the girls to be around, she was really shy and it was hard to get to know her at times. But, it seemed that she had found a great match with Helia.

Just then, Musa heard the door to the common room open and a couple seconds later Musa and Flora heard Stella scream 'snookums'. Flora and Musa smiled and laughed when they heard the scream and they decided to go out and greet the guys. When Flora walked out of Musa's room with Musa, she saw Helia standing with the rest of the guys. Flora smiled from ear to ear and walked over to Helia. Brandon and Sky were with Bloom and Stella on the other side of the room and Timmy and Techna were standing by the doorway.

"So what's with all the flowers," Brandon asked after he kissed Stella.

"Jason Warren sent them for Musa," Stella said in a sing song tone. Brandon looked up and looked up at Sky who just shrugged. They both figured that Riven would eventually come to his senses and tell Musa how he felt. They knew that Riven dated and still dates a slew of random girls but hoped that he would eventually find himself a good girl that would make him open up and they had thought that it would be Musa, but it looked like things were changing.

"Jason Warren?" Sky questioned a bit suspiciously. He looked up hoping Musa was still around. He and Brandon acted like unofficial big brothers to Musa, weather she liked it or not, and Sky was a little concerned. Jason was known to be a player and only stayed with girls until he got what he wanted. Sky knew Musa was too smart to fall for his antics and maybe this time he actually liked Musa, but Sky still wanted to warn her. Musa had already left Alfea and flew over to Red Fountain to meet Jason.

"Yeah, what's wrong with him?" Bloom asked

"Nothing, but I would tell Musa to be careful. Jason has a colorful past," Brandon replied. "But Musa can handle herself,"

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Stella reassured Brandon and Sky, she was still very excited that Musa was moving on.

"Yeah," Brandon said not convinced. He would keep his eye on Jason and make sure he was in line.

* * *

Musa flew over to Red Fountain and landed on the quad and looked over the new campus. It was a lot different than the old one, she liked this one better, it looked a lot cooler and she did like the view. Musa was looking around making sure it was the quad she was in and after she spotted Jason she knew she was in the right place. She smiled and walked over to him. He was good looking, he had light blue eyes that almost looked gray, with light brown hair that was cut short. There was a constant breeze on the campus due to it's elevation and the wind blew in his hair. When he saw her walking toward him he stood up and met her all the while he was staring into her eyes and smiling. 

"For a second there I didn't think you were coming," Jason said when the two were face to face.

"Well, I didn't want to be rude, especially since you risked facing Griselda's rage," Musa joked.

"Did you like the flowers?" Jason asked as he gestured for her to sit down on one of the benches.

"They're beautiful, thank you," Musa said. She was ready to tell Jason that she wasn't interested in a more than friendly relationship with him when she saw Riven in the corner of her eye. He was walking out of the school and she felt her heart beat quicker and her palms began to get sweaty. She wished that Riven felt the same way she did, but she still didn't know where she stood with him. That was when Musa decided that going out with Jason may not be such a bad idea. It would get her mind off of Riven and maybe she could finally start getting over him. In some fantasy, Musa hoped that Riven would become overwhelmingly jealous and tell her that he was in love with her and that he needed to be with her. But for Musa, it was becoming more apparent that it was never going to happen.

"Your welcome, I'm glad you liked them," Jason said to Musa when he noticed that Musa was looking at someone behind him. He turned and saw that she was looking at Riven. He couldn't help but feel a little jealous that Musa was looking at Riven, especially since he didn't like Riven very much… well at all. "Do you know him?" Jason said trying not to sound like he was offended as he turned back to Musa.

"Uhhh.. yeah. He annoys the hell out of me," Musa said rather truthfully, she may have loved him, but he did know how to push his buttons. Riven didn't notice that Musa was there with Jason, which relived Musa a bit. The whole idea for her plan was to get Riven jealous, but she wasn't sure if she was ready to put the plan into action. But, at the same time she did want to do something to get his attention and maybe something this drastic would.

"I guess he can be annoying, but I'd rather not talk about him, especially not when I have amazing company sitting next to me" Jason not only managed to take the attention off of Riven, but he complemented Musa in the process, sure Musa was never the type of girl to fall for needless remarks like that, but she did enjoy being treated so nicely. Jason didn't really like Riven, he was so damn bold and Jason did not like it when people beat him at things. He had set many records at Red Fountain only to have Riven beat them the next year, and Riven was never shy about reminding him of it. And when it came to dating, he wasn't the most sought after guy thanks to Riven. He simply didn't like the guy.

She smiled and nodded after she realized that staring at Riven when she was supposed to be meeting Jason, and he was being so amazing to her and he didn't deserve only half of her attention. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to –"

"Make it up to me," Jason insisted with the dreamy smile Musa couldn't seem to forget about.

"Ummm…okay,"

"All the upperclassmen at Red Fountain are invited to a Hero's Ball and we are supposed to go and bring dates," Jason began and saw a smile grow on Musa's face when she realized where he was going with this. "It's a lot of fun and there is great music, I was wondering if you wanted to go with me," Jason finished with that dreamy smile again.

Musa couldn't help but smile at his offer. "Of coarse, I'd love to go," Musa smiled and Jason was a little relieved, Gideon had warned Jason that Musa was very hard to get and that she was known for turning guys down, so Jason was very pleased to know that Musa was interested in him.

"Great, it's in a week here at Red Fountain, I'll pick up at 7," Jason finished. Musa nodded in agreement and the two went on to talk for another hour before Musa realized that she had to go back to Alfea for another class.

"I'll see you later," Jason said and bent down and gave her a quick a peck on the lips.

"Yeah, definitely," Musa smiled and tried not to blush even though she felt her face heat up. With that Musa smiled and let Jason get to class while she also went back to Alfea. The girls were going to be happy about this.

* * *

Musa walked into her common room at Alfea and saw all the girls were buzzing around the room excitedly. Musa smiled and wondered why, but she didn't really want to ask because she knew she would be drilled on what happened between her and Jason. She walked to her room to see Techna and Flora talking very excitedly about something. 

"What's up guys?" Musa began while she put down her bag and took a seat at her desk and started up her computer in an attempt to do some of the homework that was assigned on her first day of classes. She was weary of the time though, she had another class soon.

"We're going to the ball at Red Fountain," Techna said uncharacteristically excited.

"Helia and Timmy ask you guys, that's awesome," Musa said excitedly.

"So how did things go with Jason," Flora asked. Just as Flora asked that Stella came in and her face lit up when she saw Musa and she immediately interrupted the conversation.

"Tell me everything!" Stella said grabbing Musa's hand and forcing her to sit down next to her. Musa smiled and explained what happened, leaving out the little awkward part when she was caught staring at Riven. Finally at the end she informed everyone, who had now congregated in the dorm room, that she would be joining all of her friends at the hero's ball.

"That's so great! We can all get ready together!" Stella said happily. "And I will do your makeup,"

Musa rolled her eyes and nodded. The girls then idly chatted about what they were going to do for the rest of the day and random girl talk, which usually brought them to the topic of boys. Finally, Musa realized that she would be late to class if she didn't leave then and parted from the group. Flora, who had the same class as Musa, decided to walk to class with her since they were going to the same place.

"So are you excited to go with Helia?" Musa asked. Flora had always been very shy and even though her group of friends was very close, there were some things that she was too shy to open up about. But, she always seemed to let Musa in on her secrets when she was too timid to tell the others girls, she would eventually tell them, but Musa was like her test audience. The entire winx club shared a sisterly bond, but Musa and Flora were very close. "I think he really likes you,"

"He is so sweet and creative and I saw some of his sketches and they are so amazing," Flora gushed a bit, she did blush a little more with each statement she made about him. Flora had noticed that Musa was not acknowledging, rather she was avoiding, the subject of Jason. She thought it might be because she still liked Riven, but Flora wasn't sure if she should. "Umm, Musa can I ask you something?"

"Sure,"

"Do you really like Jason?" Flora said still unsure if she should have brought it up.

"Yeah, I thought you liked him," Musa was not quite sure where Flora was going with this.

"I do, I think he treats you very nicely and he seems to like you a lot. It's just you seemed to be so…I don't know into Riven last year," Flora said shyly as she and Musa turned into the classroom and they went to a desk and took seats.

Musa didn't know how to answer. She was honestly a bit embarrassed by the fact that she was going through with her plan, but she did want to move on from Riven. She didn't want to have feelings for a guy that barely acknowledged her and when he did, he would make some insensitive comment about her. She wanted to be in a normal relationship, but she wanted to be in one with him. It seemed like she was never going to have it both ways so she figured to give her plan a shot, but she still felt so wrong about. Musa figured she did have to answer Flora. "I want to move on and I like Jason, he's really caring and romantic and it a nice change from before. And Riven was so pompous and arrogant, I would never be able to deal with that,"

Flora simply nodded and didn't want to argue with Musa about this, she wasn't the confrontation type. She could tell that Musa was not over Riven, not even a little. She was going to let this lie for now.

Musa looked out the window in the direction of Red Fountain and thought about the man she was in love with and the man she was using to prove it. Musa felt a bit disgusted in herself for thinking this way, but she had to do something about the current situation. And she was sick of waiting around for something that may or may not happen, it was time to put her plan in action.

* * *

_Aww…I loved the flower thing that Jason did. You have to admit that was completely sweet. I noticed many of you think that he is a bad guy, but what would happen if he is actually a great guy and Musa ends up falling for him and forgetting all about Riven?_

_Just wondering, I mean it could happen, even though I'm not saying it will (but I'm not saying it won't)…haha suffer!_

_xoxo,_

_princessm_


	3. Green Eyed Monster

_This chapter was supposed to be a lot shorter than it is, but I kept adding more because it is so much fun writing about the back and forth that Musa and Riven have. _

_I know a lot of you want to see Riven get jealous so I think you will be happy with this chapter. Also, I wanted to thank everyone for the reviews, you guys really seem to like this story. Thanks so much for all the support. _

_Btw – This chapter is called Green Eyed Monster because that is another way to say jealousy, there will be no monster with green eyes attacking. _

_Chapter 3!

* * *

_

**Green - Eyed Monster**

A week passed by quickly and the night of the ball came quicker than the girls expected, especially Musa. She had talked to Jason several times on the phone and she saw him once when he dropped by for a surprise visit, which was nice, but she was still nervous about tonight. If Riven hadn't found out that she was going to the ball with Jason, then he would tonight and Musa was going to follow through with her plan. She was trying to channel Isabelle, one of her best friend from home who was notoriously good at playing these types of games.

Musa had thought about the past week and how much fun she had. She went out with Jason a few days ago to Magix, he had taken her to dinner. Sky and Brandon both told her to be careful about Jason, but she still didn't see the side of him that they had described, but since they were her friends, she would be wary with the situation.

Musa stood in the area outside the ballroom. She had worn a dress that Stella had initially picked out for her, but she did seem to like it a lot as well. It was a deep red in color and had a plunging neck line that was studded with small rhinestones and at the bottom of it the red had splashes of lighter hues in it. Musa's makeup was done flawlessly by Stella who was probably more excited about Musa going with Jason more than Musa was. Her hair was down in loose waves and she looked stunning. Musa felt a little awkward because she was wearing a dress that was pretty revealing, but she felt so beautiful in it, and Jason showering her with compliments also helped. Musa stood with the rest of her friends outside the Red Fountain ball room, yes; the school for heroics did have a ballroom, even though it was hardly ever used.

"We'll see you later Musa!" Stella said as Brandon ushered her into the ballroom.

"Okay," Musa laughed and looked back to Jason who was standing next to her and talking to some of his friends. The girls wouldn't be able to sit with Musa since they came with juniors and Musa had come with a senior and the two classes were split to different sides of the ballroom.

* * *

The girls idly chatted about this and that as they entered the ornately decorated ballroom. Riven, who was seated at the table where Sky and the rest of the guys along with their dates would sit, was with Olivia, she was a Alfea junior and she was one of the many girls that had a crush on Riven. Riven of coarse paid very little attention to her, but that only made her like him more, apparently he was the 'silent bruting' type. Riven saw his friends walk in with their dates and gave a small smile, at least he wouldn't have to suffer though this evening alone. 

As everyone took their seats Riven looked to the door and saw Musa walk in alone and stand there by the door. He wondered why she was there, completely overlooking the very good possibility that someone had asked her, and thought that maybe she was invited with the rest of her friends since they were so helpful the year before.

Riven looked at Musa and smiled, he knew she didn't see him and he really didn't care. He was enthralled by her, she was a vision, she looked absolutely stunning in her dress which was kind of revealing, but Riven didn't seem to mind. He did wish he had asked her to accompany him, but he knew he couldn't, he had to create a distance between them and that was becoming difficult since all of his friends were dating all of her friends and now his roommate was dating Flora, or was trying to. So the best way to separate himself from her was to make it seem like he disliked her and he did manage to do a good job of that at the dance at Alfea. He had to make up for the slip up he made last year when he sort of admitted his feelings for her the year before. She had to think that he wasn't serious about what he said. She was like a piece of art; he could look, but not touch. He could appreciate her beauty all he wanted, but that was it, and touching was completely out of the question.

Riven remembered the first time he had ever seen Musa; she was performing at Alfea during the dance that they had. He remembered it vividly because it was the first time that he ever felt such strong feelings for someone. He was enchanted by her and he would have talked to her, but then he found out she was a princess and any feelings that he had for her had to stop.

She was so far out of Riven's reach that he couldn't think of pursuing her. She was the heir to a royal throne, one day she would be queen and rule an entire planet. There was no way he would ever be good enough to be with someone like her. Even if that tremendous obstacle was overlooked, Riven knew she would never truly be his. Riven could not possibly make her happy and there was no way that she would love him the way he loved her. In the rare case that they did ever get together, he knew that there was only a matter of time until her lost her. Someone better suited for her would come along and Musa would either leave him or stay with him and be unhappy, either way Riven wouldn't have her. And losing her would be too much for him to handle. He seemed to lose everyone important to him, he found it easier to be closed off and guarded.

It was better to sever all feelings he had for her now and attempt to get over her. This was a lot easier said than done. He had hurt her so much in the past that he didn't think Musa would ever really trust him. Riven had resolved a long time ago to keep away from her and let his feelings dissolve. But, this proved to be impossible since he seemed to be forced around her constantly, so Riven figured if he made it seem like he disliked her than maybe he could fool himself into believing it. Anything was better than accidentally admitting his feelings, like the bone headed move he made last year, he was still trying to make it seem like he didn't care for her. The truth was that he did and he probably always would, but it would never work out between them so he wanted to end it before it had a chance to begin.

Riven's trance was broken when he saw Jason Warren walk through the door behind Musa and put his arm around her waist and kiss her on the cheek. Musa looked up at Jason and smiled as he walked her over to his table, and Jason walked with her not removing his hand from her waist.

Riven's blood froze when he finally put it together that the two were here as a couple. For a few seconds all he could do was stare in disbelief, how could Musa want to be with him? Riven finally managed to swallow the lump in his throat but still had a very hard time trying catching his breath. _What is she doing here with __**him!**_ Riven thought angrily, his one fist was balled tightly while the other clutched a glass ready to crush it and his jaw was tightly clenched. He felt an unbelievable amount of anger and heart break at the sight of Jason with his arm around Musa, the two sat at the table and Jason tucked some of her hair behind her ear, then whispered something in Musa's ear that elicited a few flirtatious giggles from the fairy.

Riven had a very hard time trying to control himself from going over to Jason and beating the living daylights out of him. He wasn't allowed to be with Musa, Riven couldn't see them together, it wasn't fair. _She should be with me._ He thought angrily even though he knew there was nothing he could do about his feelings for her. He was in love with Musa and Jason got to be the one that kissed her and put his arms around her, and what hurt more was that Riven knew Jason was no where near the kind of guy Musa should be dating. He would hurt her, and Riven had to do something about it.

Before Riven could even think about how to approach the situation, Saladin came to the stage and gave a short speech, at the end of it, he congratulated one senior that had shown excellence in his classes and on his missions. This student was picked by the Red Fountain staff and senior class every year and was put into the hall of fame, and it was, of coarse Jason Warren. Riven watched when Saladin announced it was him, Musa gave him a hug and Jason pushed a bit further and pulled her into a quick, but passionate kiss before parting from her and smiling at everyone who was now clapping for him. Riven hand clenched even tighter around the glass until it eventually gave way and he shattered it in his hand, an action that did not go unnoticed at the table. Sky and Brandon exchanged looks and the girls did the same. They all looked over to Musa who was now talking to Jason as he gently stroked her cheek. Riven promptly excused himself from the table and left the ballroom, there was only so much he could take.

* * *

About 10 minutes later, everyone was now dancing and having fun since all of the serious talk was taken care of. Brandon, Sky, Timmy and Helia still hadn't seen Riven come back into the ballroom and his display at the table made it pretty obvious that he had some harsh feelings toward Jason. The guys decided not to go see if he was alright since it was probably a bad idea considering it was Riven. They all went and had fun with their dates knowing Riven did not want to talk to anyone, Brandon, being the most empathetic of the group, decided he would try to talk to Riven the next morning if he was still angry. 

"Wow, Musa seems to be having a lot of fun with Jason," Stella said to Bloom.

"Yeah, but what was with Riven?" Bloom asked.

"I guess we'll find out," Stella pointed over to the door when she saw a certain specialist walk back in.

Riven re-entered the ballroom and saw that his date was off with some of her friends, not that he cared, he was only thinking about Musa and how he could get her way from Jason. He looked back over to the table where Musa was still sitting with Jason, they were talking and he would occasionally play with her hair. When Riven saw Musa smiling and laughing with Jason, this hurt the most. He decided to be proactive about the situation, he knew he couldn't tell Musa how he felt, but he could try to keep her from dating Jason. Riven knew he had no place to tell her who and who not to date, but Jason was so wrong for her, he would use her and Riven couldn't sit by and watch it happen.

"Let's go dance," Musa insisted. She pulled Jason up from his seat.

He put one arm around her waist and was ready to escort her to the dance floor when he noticed Riven approaching with a menacing look on his face. Musa, who was looking up at Jason, noticed the change in his facial expression from that amazing smile he had to a not so happy look on his face. She looked over to what he was looking at and noticed Riven was approaching. Musa had forgotten all about her plan while she was with Jason, but she felt her heart flutter when she saw Riven approaching even though he had a hard look on his face. Jason could never recreate or even come close to recreating the feelings that Musa got from when she was around Riven. No matter how much she liked Jason, he just couldn't compare.

"May we help you?" Jason said with superior glint in his eye when Riven was standing in front of the couple.

"I need to speak to Musa," Riven said noticing that Jason still had his arm around her waist and it was slowly moving lower. He had to stop whatever was going on between Musa the two. "Now," he demanded.

"Umm," Musa looked slightly over her shoulder to Jason who smiled at her. "Okay, I guess," Musa tried to hide her excitement, maybe her plan was going to work after all.

Jason, who had noticed Riven's jealousy from the second he had sat at his table with Musa took this opportunity to make Riven feel even worse. Musa was standing in front of Jason so he took it upon himself to wrap his arms around her waist and give her a kiss on her neck. Musa giggled again to Jason's touch, she had no idea that he would have this kind of affect on her, and Jason looked up at Riven smirking and knowing that every touch he gave Musa made Riven angrier. "Don't be too long, baby,"

Musa nodded and walked outside the ballroom to talk to Riven. Jason watched a bit angrily as the two walked out. "What was that about?" Gideon said walking over to his best friend with two girls on his arm, he had probably stolen some other guy's date. He was nowhere near as good looking as Jason, but as Stella would call it, he was 'hot by association.'

"Riven wants to talk to her," Jason said looking at the doors that they exited from. There was no doubt that he was upset by Musa's little intermission with Riven, but it did make him like Musa more. There was nothing better than being with a hot girl while some other guy wishes he could have her.

"I wouldn't worry about it, the chick seems to be really into you," Gideon said as he and his dates turned and walked away. Jason simply nodded and walked over to some of his other friends and waited for his date to return.

* * *

Musa walked out of the ballroom followed by Riven. When the door to the ballroom shut Musa turned around and crossed her arms around her stomach waiting for an explanation as to why he had pulled her away from her date. She was really hoping that he would say nothing and just kiss her, but she knew better and if she was lucky Riven would admit that he had feelings for her since she still wasn't sure. 

Riven looked at Musa who looked like she was a bit upset with him, but he was happy that he got her away from Jason. Seeing Jason's tongue down her throat was not his idea of a good night, now if it were him kissing her then it would be another story entirely. "What the hell are you doing," Riven said both angrily and nervously, luckily for him the anger seemed to overpower the anxiety that came along with being around her.

"Excuse me?" Musa said taken aback by his tone. He didn't seem jealous, he seemed angry.

"What they hell are you doing with Jason?" Riven began

"I was having fun until you interrupted," Musa was now not sure how to perceive Riven's interruption, he seemed to be worried about her more than jealous. Sky and Brandon had already told her to be careful with Jason and she told them that she could hand herself just fine. She had dealt with guys like him before, hell she dates someone like Jason.

"You shouldn't be with him," Riven blurted out. He didn't mean for it to sound so demanding and mean, but he figured anything was better than sounding like he was jealous.

Her eyes flashed with fury at this statement. "Excuse me," Musa thought that when she finally got a reaction out of Riven, it would be a good thing because he was so hard to figure out, but it was becoming clear that Riven didn't seem jealous. This realization only served to anger Musa even more. "Since when are you my father? Not that he has any authority over whom I should or should not date, but you certainly do not get any input,"

"I don't give a damn on who you chose to date," Riven said trying to convince her and more importantly himself that he didn't care for Musa in any special way. "I'm trying to warn you, Jason only cares about one thing,"

"Unlike you who cares about nothing, except of coarse yourself," Musa spat out with venom in her eyes. Riven knew just how to piss her off.

"For one second will you shut the hell up and see that I'm trying to help you!" Riven was warning Musa for many reasons, the main one being that it was killing him to see her in the arms of another man. He wanted to be with her, but he knew better. He also wanted to protect her, he knew that he had hurt her a lot in the past and all he wanted to do was keep her safe from now on. He didn't want to see Jason hurt Musa, but it looked like Musa wasn't going to listen to him.

"Well excuse me for not recognizing your caring side, I didn't know it existed," Musa shot back. "I'm a big girl, Riven, I can handle myself. So you can stop acting like you care," With that Musa walked past him and back into the ballroom.

"Musa – " Riven began trying to stop her, but stopped. He wanted to help her but she refused to listen to him and not only that but, he didn't want to seem too concerned. Riven would have to try to find another way to keep them apart, but for tonight he would have to endure seeing them together.

Musa walked back into the ballroom and shut the door loudly behind her, luckily the music was loud enough that nobody seemed to notice. She tried to shake off the anger that Riven caused from their conversation. She looked around and spotted Jason, who was now walking toward her smiling, she smiled back and gave a heavy sigh. Musa wanted to temporarily forget about the feelings she had for Riven. No matter how many times the two fought, it seemed like Musa would always have feelings for him.

"Something wrong?" Jason asked when he finally got to Musa. Musa nodded, but he wasn't convinced. "You sure?"

"Nothing, everything's fine Ri – Jason," Musa quickly corrected herself and hoped Jason didn't noticed that she almost called him Riven. The mistake however was not overlooked; Jason had taken notice that Musa had almost mistakenly called him Riven. There was some jealousy brewing under Jason's calm faced façade. "Let's dance," Musa said finally perking up a bit.

"Okay," Jason said hiding his anger a lot better than Riven did.

Musa took his hand and brought him to the dance floor. Jason was pretty good dancer, excellent in fact. He and Musa began in the center of the dance floor when Riven calmed himself down enough to calmly walk back into the ballroom. When he walked in he saw Jason and Musa together. He stood by his table not realizing that he was watching intently, his date was still off with her friends. Jason was holding onto Musa with one hand on her hips on the other slightly lower, the display infuriated Riven. He was looking at the woman he was in love with dancing, in a rather risqué fashion, with one of the people he hated most.

* * *

Jason noticed that Riven was back in the room and it was obvious that he was looking at him and Musa, so Jason wanted to give him a show. Jason pulled Musa even closed until their bodies were grinding against each others and then he pulled her into another passionate kiss, this time it did not end shortly. Jason took his sweet time while kissing Musa, he didn't know what was going on between her and Riven, but he was going to make sure Musa liked him more. Jason ran his fingers through Musa's soft hair and kept her up against his body with his other hand. When they finally pulled apart Jason looked at her for a few seconds before he looked up at Riven and smirked before looking back down at Musa and kissing her again. _This is going to be a fun night._ Jason thought to himself. He did have a geuine attraction to Musa and he did want to get to know her better, but if he got to piss Riven off at the same time, then that made things even better. 

Riven turned away and decided on leaving the part early, since this wasn't his idea of fun, when the school alarm went off. The music stopped and the room fell silent, except for the loud alarm that was ringing. Everyone looked at one another since they had no idea what was going on.

Jason exchanged glances with some other students, this was the school for heroics so if there was a threat it was their time as seniors to step up, and then Jason looked at Musa. "Stay here," he told her with a protective tone in his voice, he looked into her eyes and gave her a quick peck on the lips. Then, he and the other guys began towards the main doors in order to face what ever it was that had caused the alarms to go off.

* * *

_I think you can guess what's going on – _

_But onto something more important…Riven is in love with Musa and he is jealous of Jason. I love reading over the parts when Riven gets angry. Aww…poor guy. And as many of you have predicted, Jason doesn't have the purest of intentions, but he does like Musa. He does also enjoy the fact that he is pissing off Riven at the same time. And Riven is trying to get over Musa. Let's see how that goes…_

_Things will get fun!_

_I promise I will post Chapter 10 of 'Paradise Lost' soon (chapter 9 is up if you didn't know)_

_xoxo_

_princessm_


	4. Love Hurts

_I am so sorry about the late late late update! Okay I blame it on senioritis. Also, my sister came home from college for awhile and I needed to spend time with her since she is like my best friends. Also, I just got back from my senior class trip to Disney World in Florida and I was having an amazing time. It was so great and now im back at home and I really wish I was still in Florida with Mickey. _

_Anyway, I promise the next update will be somewhat sooner. I am hoping to update soon but my teachers don't understand that I am really lazy and they keep giving me homework! So this chapter is done but the next one, I have yet to start, but I do know what I'm going to write. _

_Also, I finished 'Paradise Lost' awhile ago so check it out if you want and I also put up 'Stranded' which is a prequel to this fic. _

_Chapter 4! Here we go - - - _

**Love Hurts**

The Red Fountain alarm sounded through the air all over the school. Every student was now ready for battle when Cordatorta began giving orders. The Red Fountain ballroom experienced a mass exodus when all the heroes left the ballroom after Jason and Gideon left the room. They had gone to secure the different entrances of the scarlet school. After that Musa ran over to her friends who were standing by their table. The guys were ready to walk out of the room and help out when Cordatorta called them over to him. He had sent most of the seniors to watch over the weaponry vaults, since in the wrong hands, those weapons could be extremely dangerous. 

Cordatorta was informed by Saladin that the intruders may be fter the Codex so Cordatorta decided to send some of the Winx Club and their specialists to the Codex vault to protect Red Fountain's part of the Codex. Cordatorta called them over and gave them orders. "Alright boys, we think the Codex may be in danger. I want Sky, Riven, Brandon and you three girls to go with them," Cordatorta said to the three specialists and pointed to Bloom, Stella and Musa. They nodded and Musa felt a little uncomfortable, things always had a way of pairing up the girlfriends with the boyfriends and she always seemed to get stuck with Riven. "Timmy, I want you and Techna to go check the schools security grids, Helia help them," Helia and Timmy nodded and Techna grabbed Flora and took her with the other three. 

The specialists and the Winx Club were now standing outside when they got the orders and nodded as they all began to go to the vault. They rushed quickly through the many heroes getting orders to go to protect different parts of the school when they heard Cordatorta call Sky and Riven back. "Keep going, we'll catch up," Sky reassured the group. They nodded and kept going to the vault and walked over to Cordatorta who was now standing next to Jason and Gideon. 

"Since Jason and Gideon are at the top of the senior class, they will be assisting you boys in the vault, in case you need it," Cordatorta informed. "Jason, you're in charge," He added and Jason managed to perk up a bit and a smile seemed to run across his face, now he could be around Musa and show off how skilled he was to her. Cordatorta walked away and left the boys to follow his orders. There was obvious anger in Riven's face and Sky was not the only one to notice. Not only did Riven have to follow Jason's orders, but he had to see him around Musa even more. That's what Riven got for falling in love with someone so far above him. 

"Let's go" Jason commanded as he and Gideon nodded and began running to the vault with Riven and Sky not too far behind. "At least I can keep Musa safe," Jason said loudly knowing that Riven could hear him, he really wanted to turn around and see if his comment landed the way he wanted it too, but he was pretty sure it was. 

They finally arrived at the vault to see the girls in their Winx forming fighting the witches. It was not much of a surprise to Riven or Sky, they pretty much figured that it was the witches when they were assigned to guard the Codex. Gideon and Jason ran ahead and gave the fairies a hand in fighting the witches, but the witches managed to open the Codex vault before anyone got there. Brandon had gone into the vault after Icy and was fighting her along with Stella, Gideon also went down there to help. Sky decided to help out Bloom who was now battling with Stormy, and Riven glanced over to see Musa being attacked by his crazy ex-girlfriend. 

Riven ran to Musa's aid when he saw Darcy firing a barrage of what seemed to be psychic orbs. Riven was very familiar with these, they were very painful and they slowed a person's reaction time, he had experienced them whenever he and Darcy got in an argument while they were 'together'. Riven snapped out of the unwanted trip down memory lane just in time to push her out of the path of one of Darcy's attacks.

"Oh puppy dog!" Darcy exclaimed with very obvious false excitement. "Let me guess, you're here to save the little princess?" 

Riven gritted his teeth when Darcy said this. He hated their encounters with Darcy for so many reasons, the primary one being that Musa would get hurt, but also because Darcy knew how Riven was able to break her spell, she was the one person in the universe that knew for a fact that he was in love with Musa. Although, many of his friends and the winx club had a bit of suspicion on that subject as well. "Tell you what; I'll make this easy for you and kill her quickly," She laughed maniacally and began to summon another powerful attack. 

Darcy said that and fired another barrage of orbs at Musa, this time Musa wasn't as prepared as she was last time since she was getting up from the ground from when Riven pushed her out of the way. Musa looked up and was ready to fire a quick counter attack in the hopes that it would protect her when Riven took matters into his hands. He lunged on top of Musa in an attempt to protect her from another attack, and he did. However, Riven managed to suffer a severe blow from the attack. 

Musa immediately put up a shield from underneath Riven so that neither of them could suffer any more damage for the time being. Riven lifted his face and met Musa's somewhat astonished gaze, he was still laying on top of her and for some reason, probably his intense physical attraction to her, he didn't want to move away. Musa also made no quick effort to get him off of her; she simply gazed back into those violet eyes. "are you alright?" he questioned in a emotionless tone and a hard look in his eyes. 

Musa nodded to confirm and she thought back to the island that was the only time when she had seen him with a soft look in his eyes, it was the only time he ever regarded her with some tenderness. She wished so badly for things to go back to the way they were when they were together on the island, but he had gotten even more distant since then. "Are you okay," Musa managed to choke out after a few seconds of silence, she looked up at her barrier and noticed that it was slowly fading, but she stayed in her place and waited for Riven to move off of her. She was certainly in no hurry. 

Jason, who up to this moment was fighting along with Brandon and Stella to reclaim the Codex that Icy had in her possession, looked over with concern to see if Musa was doing alright while fighting Darcy. His eyes narrowed with anger and burned like fire when he saw Riven lying on top of his girlfriend. He swiftly began to fight Icy with more skill in an attempt to hurt her enough so that Brandon could take over and he could go over to Musa and make it known that he was the only one that would be protecting her. 

Riven nodded after Musa's question and began to get pull himself away from her, trying to ignore the pain that that was searing his back. Musa's shield acted like a type of protective bubble and she could see Darcy's increasingly powerful attacks beginning to deteriorate the shield, it would be another minute before the shield itself fell to pieces. Musa noticed the severe abrasions on Riven back and she noticed that he was holding back a grimace of pain. 

"Riven, are you okay?" she ran to him and put he hand on his shoulder, afraid to go and touch his face. 

Rive snapped his shoulder back even though he would have really loved to keep any type of physical contact going between him and Musa. He looked up to see that the shield was starting to come down. "I'm fine, she's going to attack again and it's going to bring down your barrier so be ready." 

Just as Riven had predicted, Darcy sent out a psychic beam. It hurled toward the two and when it hit the barrier it not only broke the barrier Musa had put up, but also knocked both of them off their feet. Musa quickly scrambled to her feet and flew up in the air to meet Darcy at her level. She gave her a smug look with a glint of superiority in her eye and spoke quickly; she did always have a grudge against that particular witch. "Why are you here! Aww did you miss us?" Musa mocked with fake innocence as she pouted her lips. Riven, who was down on the ground looking up at the whole situation, and occasionally Musa's perfect legs, grimaced at the comment just as Musa sent out another attack.

Why did that stupid fairy have to open her big mouth? Didn't she realize how dangerous Darcy was? Riven didn't want to see anything bad happen to Musa, but how was he supposed to protect her when she flew up into the air, somewhere he couldn't very well go, and exacerbate an already bad violent situation. He had half a mind to pull her down and yell at her, but for now he had to be ready to catch Musa in case she fell from the air. 

"Please," Darcy said with disdain dripping from her voice and her gaze. "You call that an attack? How about you hit me next time?" She laughed. Darcy immediately conjured another attack. This time it was a lot more powerful. "Shadow fury," she yelled in a rather composed voice. The attack seemed to fill the area in which they were fighting with complete darkness and anyone in the darkness began to feel an intense pain all over. 

It was ghastly to witness. Jason heard the attack., along with everyone else in the vault and ran over to Musa in an attempt to help her, but the darkness was too blinding and whatever vision he had when running to her disappeared when he got closer to her proximity. He ordered everyone else to keep fighting but he could hear no response. All he could hear were some moans of pain and the insane laughter of Darcy. 

Helia and Flora, who were both in the control room with Timmy and Techna, realized that they were not too much help in the control room, so Helia decided to be of some service in the vault, if he was going to be a hero like his grandfather had hoped, than he should get used to it. "I'm going to the vault, they need help," Flora, who didn't want to leave Helia's side and she definitely didn't want to be stuck in the control room acting like she knew what Techna and Timmy were saying, so she followed him down to the vault. 

Musa and Riven were both seized with an indescribable amount of pain, it was as if a force was coming from all sides and crushing them. Musa feel from her position in the sky and Riven ran to her, trying to ignore all the pain that was surrounding him. He caught the musical fairy right before she hit the ground. Riven put her down on the ground and moved her to the side. He then saw a figure walking toward him and he drew his sword. Darcy came toward him with a devilish grin on her face and Riven knew what was coming, she would attack him and then try to attack Musa afterwards. 

Luckily for Riven, the intensity of Darcy's attack was lessening and he was able to work though the pain was slowly subsiding. Riven stood ready to attack when he saw something hold Darcy back from behind. They were golden strings from Riven's cheery new roommate. "Thought you could use some help," Helia said and Darcy whipped around and looked at the hero with a burning desire to kill him. The darkness began to clear 

Riven nodded and attacked Darcy while she was restrained. Unfortunately she broke free from his restraints reather quickly and he was face with another problem because now Jason was going to go to Musa and he really didn't want that to happen. Darcy sent another attack out, but this time it was at Musa. Rivne looked in horror as she aimed toward the woman he loved, Riven jumped in front of the attack not caring what happened to him. 

Riven was pushed off his feet and flew back, straight into the fairy he was trying to protect in the first place. Luckily, Jason managed to get the Musa, who was still lying unconscious on the floor, out of the way. He looked up and saw Riven getting up after suffering the brute of Darcy's attack. Jason looked down at Musa and didn't want to leave her side, fearing she would wake up to see Riven saving her. But, his school was under attack and as the star student he should step up and he didn't want to seem as if her were scared, so he got up and left Musa's side and went to go attack Darcy. 

"Next time, try to save the person you're supposed to protect," Jason hissed at Riven as he ran in front of him and managed to side swipe Darcy before she could attack Flora. Darcy was sick of being ambushed by a bunch of loser fairies and their hero boyfriends. The shot that Jason had taken on her distracted her for a second and there was enough time for Flora to summon an attack. Darcy was wrapped and while she was wrapped in vines, Flora let her have it. Helia who stood in a bit of amazement, she seemed so delicate but she could pack a punch. 

Darcy was beginning to tire quickly; the Gloomix that she was given by Darkar was beginning to drain her energy. She couldn't keep attacking from all directions and as much as she hated to admit it to herself, that annoying musical fairy had actually thrown some good attacks at her and now she was being hit from all sides by a bunch of her friends. She finally fired one last attack and flew towards her sister who was still fighting Brandon, Sky, Stella and Gideon. "So, those little losers too much for ya?" Icy teased to her sister. 

"You have the codex, let's go," Darcy commanded. She was the more cunning and she thought things through more. Icy on the other hand wanted was the leader of the group and her decision was usually final, but Darcy could see that staying here any longer was probably not a good idea. 

"We can take out a couple more of them," Icy stated happily, she had seen that Musa was knocked out and she was one of the more powerful fighters so hopefully they could knock out a couple more. Darcy knew that she had used her most powerful attack on Musa and she probably couldn't conjure something like that again, she was the most logical of her sister and she knew it was time to leave. 

"Or we could lose the Codex, let get out while we're ahead." She commanded. Icy, who had put up an ice shield at that moment, nodded in agreement. She liked to take risks, but she knew when the risk was greater than the reward and there was no way that she wanted to risk losing the codex. 

"Stormy, we have what we need, lets go," Icy said and with a blue flash she was gone. Stormy then left as well. 

Darcy's final attack that she had thrown before going to Icy hit Flora dead on. Helia had attempted to save her by knocking her out of the way, but it didn't work. Helia had worried that the attack really hurt Flora, but she was still breathing and managed to stand back up before falling down into his arms. 

Darcy had left the vault, but she hadn't left Red Fountain. She was quite curious as to see how the drama that was in the room before she had arrived would unfold. Jason Warren was all over Musa and she had did like seeing Riven squirm, there was still a part of her that was jealous that Riven had chosen Musa over her and this was his just desserts. Darcy decided to watch a little drama before being stuck in shadow haunt while they formulated a plan for their next plan of attack. 

Riven looked at Musa who was now lying in Jason's arms. He couldn't help but feel even more jealous. He saw that she was waking up and she would wake up to Jason instead of him. He hated the predicament he was in, but he had to swallow the feelings and walked away. So he did. 

Riven walked out of the vault and then out of the school. It was late, but he really didn't care, he needed to do something to get his mind off of Musa. "Alone? Where's your little princess?" said a voice from behind. 

Riven turned around quickly when he heard that all too familiar voice, drawing his phantoblade in the process. Darcy stood calmly in front of Riven with a hint of bravado in her voice, even though she showed obvious signs of being weary from all the fighting that occurred. "Get out of here!" Riven threatened, he may have been tired but he would defiantly fight her if he needed. 

"Oh wait I forgot, she's with Jason Warren. I have to admit for a hero, the boy isn't half bad," Darcy said knowing that it would push his buttons. 

"What do you want," he growled still trying to push away the pain that came along with the image of Musa with Jason. 

"Oh not much, some entertainment would be nice, it does get rather boring when you and your little friends let us walk away with what we want so easily." She began. "And this is very entertaining, I mean here you are pining for that nauseating princess and she's probably in Jason's room doing god knows what," 

Darcy could see the pain in Riven's face intensify and she also saw anger mixed in. She knew him well enough to know that if she kept this up, Riven would never stop thinking about it and it would help her later when she and her sisters have to fight him and his friends again. "Well this was fun, but I think I should go," and with a purple flash of light she was gone and Riven was feeling even worse. 

Musa opened her eyes to see that she was cradled in Jason's arms, he looked down at her and smiled with a look of relief in his eyes. She remembered being hit with some strange attack that she had never witnessed before and then falling, from there everything that happened was a blur. She had hoped that it was Riven's arms she had fallen into, but Jason seemed to be a really great guy and as far as she could tell all the warnings that she had gotten about him were like empty threats. 

She looked over and saw that Flora was unconscious and Helia was tending to her. Musa quickly got up, but was stopped by Jason's hand. "Hey, take it easy you got hit pretty hard back there.," He began not letting her go. "I already asked Gideon, she's gonna be fine, but she's gonna stay here at Red Fountain for a couple days until she is back to normal," 

"Thanks," Musa said gratefully.

"I could never see you get hurt," Jason seemed to be doing everything right, he was taking care of her and making sure her friends were okay as well. Even though Musa's heart belonged to Riven, it seemed like Jason was finding a way to take it. 

* * *

_Did Jason just take credit for saving Musa? And oh no she's falling for him and it seems to be apparent to not only her but also Riven. Let's see what happens when I throw some more characters into the mix – but who? _

_Everyone loves a good love triangle or rectangle, or octagon? _

_xoxo,_

_princessm_


	5. The Real Jason Warren

_Okay so as promised I got this chapter up pretty quick. I think you guys will like this one since, as the title says, we see the 'real' Jason Warren. I am sure you are all very curious. Also just a warnging there are a lot of references to sex in this chapter, nothing too bad but this story is set in a high school and that is basically what is on everyone's mind anyway. So here you go – enjoy!_

_Chapter 5! _

**The Real Jason Warren **

The sun rose on a new day over the famed school for heroics. The first morning bell rang over the school and the dormitories causing a mass exodus of potential heroes from their rooms to their classes. It had been a few days since the invasion of Red Fountain and since Red Fountain's part of the Codex was taken. Things had managed to get back to normal even though Cordatorta was a bit disappointed that they had lost their part of their part of the Codex and took it out on many of his students, Jason being one of them. Being the star student did have its pitfalls, one being living up to the enormous expectations of everyone. Riven, who had been in a mood ever since the dance, walked over to his class and sat silently at his seat and watched as Jason walked in and high fived a couple of his friends. Riven didn't even feel like making a smart remark, he was much to tired from being out late with his new girlfriend, Olivia. 

Even though he felt absolutely nothing toward her, except a bit of annoyance since the girl did seem to go on and on about the most meaningless things, Riven needed some way to get his mind off of Musa and more importantly the fact that she was dating Jason. Riven hated feeling so jealous, but it was making him crazy. He had seen on occasion over the past few days, Musa and some of her friends come to Red Fountain and Jason made it very obvious that he was with Musa and when Riven saw Musa enter Jason's room the day before, he knew he needed to get his mind off of her. It was obvious that he was the last thing on her mind, hence the façade of a relationship Riven now had with Olivia. Riven stared dejectedly out of his window and allowed his mind to wander even though he knew where it would go, but he didn't mind thinking about Musa. It was Musa with someone else that drove him crazy. 

Jason walked over to Gideon with a happy grin on his face. "Please tell me that grin means your getting some from Musa," Gideon said to his best friend. He had never seen Jason exert so much energy on any girl, usually they were pretty happy to jump into bed with him, but Gideon had a feeling Musa was not going to let her panties drop that easy and seeing the annoying grin on his friend's face was usually an indicator that he was getting some. "I mean I did spend the night with what's her name so you were alone with Musa. Please tell me you didn't waste the opportunity." 

"Dude, it's me. When have I ever wasted that kind of opportunity," Jason said with a smirk and turned his attention to the teacher that walked into the classroom. 

* * *

A few hours later that same morning at Alfea Musa got back from her first class of the day. She hummed to herself as she walked over the marble floors of the Alfea hallway. She opened the door to the common room to see Stella and Bloom getting ready for what Musa assumed was an early date with Brandon and Sky. Musa said nothing she simply continued to hum her way through the room on her way to her bedroom. "Someone seems pretty happy," Stella said with a sly smile stopping the musical princess's gait toward her bedroom door, Musa had come in just before curfew the night before and she seemed to be exuberant after her date with Jason. 

Musa turned around and smiled at Bloom and Stella who were sitting on the couch awaiting some description of her date with Jason. "Well, I'm in a good mood," Musa said innocently playing with her finger nails. 

"When you're dating one of the hottest guys at Red Fountain why wouldn't you be all happy?" Stella replied not dropping her sly smile. She stood up and ushered Musa over to the couch and made her sit down. "Spill, what happened last night," 

"Nothing,"

Stella and Bloom both gave Musa the same skeptical look and Musa finally gave in. "Fine, we kissed but that's it," 

"Is he a good kisser?" Bloom asked uncharacteristically pryingly of her. Stella was immediately pulled from imagining Jason and Musa together, she was so happy that everyone was with someone. Musa finally had a new boyfriend after she dated that Daniel guy last year and Flora's relationship with Helia was beginning to take flight. She felt so content that everyone was now paired up. 

Musa blushed to her hairline when Bloom asked the question and nodded in confirmation, too shy to actually say that Jason was an amazing kisser, another pro to add to the long list of things that made him so great. "Well I'm not surprised, I noticed that he was a very good dancer," Stella began. "And if a guy is good on the dance floor, then he's usually good in the –" 

"Stella!" Bloom and Musa said in unison hoping that she wouldn't continue the very inappropriate comment. 

"Well anyway," Musa began disregarding Stella's comment. "I have to get ready then I'm going to go visit Flora," Musa finished and then walked into her room. 

"Hmmm….visiting Flora? There wouldn't be anyone else whom you want to visit at Red Fountain would there?" Bloom said in the same tone that Stella said her less than appropriate comment. Musa didn't answer; she simply gave a smile from ear to ear and shut the door to her bedroom behind her. 

Bloom and Stella exchanged some looks and sat back down and continued to glance through a magazine and they waited for Brandon and Sky to get there. About a half and hour later Sky and Brandon walked in and kissed their respective girlfriends. At the same time, Musa walked out of her room and began walking to the door. "Hey guys," Musa said cheerfully as she walked to the front door and opened it. 

"Where are you off to?" Sky said in a very big brotherly tone. 

"I'm going to visit Flora," She replied with innocence in her voice. She did enjoy being protected by her friends to some extent, but she had enough of Sky and Brandon and even Riven telling her to 'watch out' for Jason. So, Musa tried to make a quick exit in an attempt to dodge any remarks on that subject. "So I should go, see ya later!" 

With that Musa left and Sky turned to Bloom. "She's seeing Jason," He asked in a questioning voice although he already knew the answer. He honestly did not like the relationship Musa had with Jason and he was trying to look out for her. 

"Oh you guys need to calm down," Stella began as she sat next to Brandon and threw her legs over his leisurely. "So what if Jason_ was_ a player –" 

"More like an all-star," Brandon interrupted. (1)

"Fine, but he hasn't done a single thing to Musa that would warrant all warnings you've given to Musa," Stella said quite eloquently. Musa seemed to be happy and after all the drama that happened with Riven, she was glad to see happiness on her friend's face. 

"We get that you guys know Jason better, but let Musa have some fun and trust that she can make the right decision on whom she does or doesn't date," Bloom finished for Stella. 

"She should be with someone else anyone else, just not Jason," Brandon replied stubbornly. Stella thought it was cute that they were so worried, but Stella knew what he was thinking. He was hoping that Musa and Riven would get together, a hope that she had up until recently. Brandon knew it would create a lot of harmony if Musa dated one of his best friends and he also knew that Riven wouldn't hurt Musa no matter how mean he was on his exterior. But Stella had come to the realization that Musa and Riven were probably never going to happen, they were stuck on a desert island together and nothing happened, what other opportunity could they have asked for. "But, we'll lay off," 

"Thanks, now let's go," Stella said as she and Brandon stood up and left the room to go out and Bloom and Sky remained in the room for awhile longer before they went out as well. 

* * *

The breeze gently brushed across the musical princess's face as she walked through the forest en route to Red Fountain. She found a certain relaxation in walking; she loved it and preferred it over flying any day. Musa thought about the past couple of weeks, since school started she had been having a lot of fun. Even though in the back of her mind she wanted Riven to notice her and maybe even show the same tenderness to her that he did when they were on the island together. But, she was beginning to have some feelings toward Jason, they were no where near as strong as the ones she had for Riven, but she did love the feeling that she was being cared for and that someone else thought about her as much as she thought about Riven. It was nice to be noticed by Jason instead of being carelessly cast aside by Riven. 

Musa finally arrived at the scarlet colored school and walked in and went straight to the infirmary where Flora was staying. She was a bit tempted to go over to the other side of the school where Jason was probably working out or doing something else, but Musa had gone there primarily to see Flora. Plus, she wanted to tell Flora about everything that was going on with Jason. She wasn't sure if she was getting real feelings for him or if it was just the initial high that everyone felt when they were in a new relationship, but it was still pretty news worthy. 

Musa finally got to the infirmary and saw that Helia was walking out of Flora's room just as Musa was about to walk in. "Oh, hi" Helia said taken a bit off guard. Musa smiled at him and thought about how alike he and Flora were. 

"Hi, umm we haven't officially met. I'm Musa," she said putting her hand out in a friendly gesture to Helia. Helia did the same and politely introduced himself. 

"Flora is actually asleep, that's why I was leaving," Helia began. "Well that and I've already missed too many classes," 

Musa couldn't help but let out a small laugh. She really liked this guy, he was perfect for Flora and she would be sure to tell her that when she saw her. "Well please don't let me keep you, it was nice meeting you," 

"Nice meeting you too," Helia said on his way out. "Oh and are you alright? I mean you took a pretty bad hit at the vault that night," 

"Oh, I'm fine," Musa said with a smile. This guy really was a lot like Flora. "Thanks though," 

"Yeah no problem, Riven seemed pretty worried, so I was just making sure," 

"Riven?" Musa said a bit surprised. She remembered fighting along side him against Darcy, but she remember that Jason was the one who saved her…or so she thought. 

"Yeah, he was the one who pushed you out of the way like four times, he was actually in the infirmary a couple days ago cause of the battle," Helia said a bit surprised that Musa didn't already know this. He then realized that he may have said too much and he didn't want to anger his already temperamental roommate. "Well, I should go. I'll see you around," 

"Yeah, bye," Musa said still a little shocked that Riven had hurt himself while protecting her. _He has done that before_ Musa thought thinking back to the island when Riven literally put himself on the line for her. Musa still thought there was a part of Riven that had feelings for her, but there was something holding him back. She knew it was probably some crazy fantasy, but that was the whole reason she began dating, right? 

Musa walked into Flora's room expecting to see her asleep, but she was sitting up in her and looked like she had just woken up. Musa sat at Flora's bedside and talked to her for a bit and told her how much she liked Helia and she thought that they were a very cute couple. After that Flora asked about how things were going with Jason and Musa told her everything that was going on. Finally, about an hour later, Musa knew that she should leave Flora to get some rest so that she could come back to Alfea sooner. 

On her way out of Red Fountain, Musa wondered if she would run into Jason, she didn't tell Jason that she was coming by, probably because she knew she only had an hour before she needed to get back to Alfea and she knew that she would get distracted by him. Musa stopped at a window and saw how pretty the campus's surroundings were. 

"I didn't know you were coming here today," said a voice from behind Musa. The owner of the voice then wrapped him arms around Musa's waist and dropped his face to her neck and placed a few tender kisses on her neck. 

"That's because I didn't come to see you," Musa said coyly snuggling back against Jason's chest and allowing herself to be wrapped up in his arms. She had missed getting this type of attention. 

"Ouch," Jason said playfully not letting go of Musa. "How's Flora doing?" Jason asked knowing that was probably who she was here visiting, besides him of coarse. 

Musa smiled happily at Jason's concern for her friends, he was a great guy. Musa turned around to face him, but Jason kept his arms firmly around Musa's waist. "She's fine, she can come home tomorrow!" Musa said excitedly, she had missed Flora. "But, I don't think Helia is as happy as I am about it," Musa joked. 

"Helia, that's Saladin's grandson right? He just transferred here." Jason said and Musa nodded in agreement. "Nice guy," 

Musa smiled at him and wanted to change the subject from her friends to them. "So are you busy?" Musa asked hoping that he wasn't. 

"Never too busy for you," Jason said as he and Musa began to walk through the hallway. In reality, Jason had a class, ironically one with Riven, in about 10 minutes. But, he would rather do others things especially since he was with Musa. He led her to his room and they both entered it, Jason's hopes soaring for this afternoon.

Musa always felt a little nervous when she entered Jason's room, his reputation did precede him, but so far he hadn't done anything warrant suspicion. Jason closed the door behind him and walked over to Musa. "So what do you want to do?" Musa asked with a coy smile thinking about kissing him again, he was a really good kisser. Musa had inadvertently sat down on his bed casually not realizing the type of message she was giving off. She really didn't think the Jason was thinking about that sort of thing, she wasn't stupid she knew that all guys pretty much think about sex 24/7, but she didn't think Jason was too determined to do anything with her just yet. 

A smirk grew across his Jason's face and he sat down next to Musa and lifted her chin and brought his lips to hers. He began kissing her and Musa didn't really mind, although she did keep imagining that it was Riven she was kissing. Jason began to push the envelope when he slid his hands up Musa's back and brought them to the buttons of her shirt. Musa promptly took Jason's hands in hers and moved them away from her chest. Musa felt undoubtedly nervous when Jason went that far and Jason could sense that he made her uncomfortable so he pulled away and looked her in the eyes sincerely and apologized. "Sorry," He said and Musa nodded and allowed him to kiss her again. 

Jason took his hands away from Musa's and put his hands on her waist and continued to kiss Musa, his hands crept lower when Musa pulled away from Jason again and gave him a hard look. "Sorry, again it's just you're really tempting," Musa sat and didn't know how to take this, Jason had never been like this before and she did know about his history with girls. He usually got what he wanted since most of the girls he dated were relatively easy (2) , but he never seemed to do anything she wasn't ready for before.

Although Musa felt very uncomfortable now, she didn't really know what was going on and she didn't know what to do. Jason did manage to slow things down, but only for a second. Jason when pushed further than he had before. He and Musa were still sitting at the side of his bed and he began to lean in until he was on top of Musa and he was moving his hands around her body in an attempt to remove her clothes while Musa was struggling to get out from under him. Finally she got up from under him and stood up in the room. "Jason stop it!" she commanded with obvious anger. 

"Stop being so – " Jason said before stopping himself. He was obviously a bit frustrated with Musa. He thought the whole 'innocent' thing was pretty hot in the beginning, but he was used to getting something out of a relationship and Musa was being way too obstinate for him. 

"So what?" Musa said. "I'm sorry, but I am not one of your slutty ex-girlfriends," Musa yelled and began on her way to the door when Jason forceful put his arm around her and stopped her from going. 

"Come on, don't go," Jason insisted in a rather villainous tone. "We can talk," He gritted his teeth when he felt Musa still trying to escape his grasp. Finally, he felt her give into his will and she turned to him and she looked up and smiled. Jason looked back and thought that he had won the little fight they had just had when he felt Musa's knee propel into his groin and he immediately fell to the floor. 

"Stay the hell away from me," Musa said with hate dripping from her words. 

Musa darted out of Jason's room slamming the door behind her. She walked through the hallway quickly trying the keep the crazy myriad of emotions that she felt from showing on her face. She knew that her clothes were rumpled and that she probably looked like she had just slept with Jason, but all she wanted to do was get out of there and she moved even faster with every passing second. She should have heeded the advice she was given, Musa felt like a stupid child that just fell flat on her face after she was told to be careful. She rushed past people, but it was all a blur, she was too furious and embarrassed to even take notice to her surroundings. That is why she didn't notice when she bumped into a very familiar face. 

Musa accidentally bumped into Riven with a good deal of force since she was walking so fast. The shove to his shoulder made him turn around to see a very disgruntled Musa. She looked up and went to apologize but stopped when she saw it was Riven. "Oh sor-" Musa began. "Ugh never mind," Musa said trying to continue on her way, she didn't want to see Riven right now and especially not like this. She was already upset enough, she didn't need the reminder that the whole reason she had put herself thought this mess was to somehow get Riven to fall for her. All she wanted to do was leave. 

Riven grabbed hold of Musa's wrist gently, yet he held her firmly enough to stop the fairy from going anywhere. He knew he should never do anything that would prolong any encounter he had with Musa, but she seemed so upset and he couldn't see her like this, he wanted to be the man to make her feel better. But, Musa looked at him like he was the last person he wanted to see, and in his mind, Riven figured that was true. "What's wrong," he asked ignoring everything that was going through his head. 

"Like you care," Musa said roughly and broke free from Riven's grasp. She turned back around and began walking even faster. All she could think about was getting out of the school. Finally she saw the doors for the grand entrance way and she exited them as soon as she could, leaving Riven standing confused in her wake. 

Riven had no idea what was going on and he never managed to put it together that she was probably her to see Jason, well he hadn't yet. Before Riven could think about the situation further, Brandon and Sky joined him in the hallway and they all walked to class since they all had the same class next. 

Musa walked through the forest angrily, too angry to fly. Plus, flying meant that she would get back to Alfea quickly and all she felt like doing was being alone. She felt so stupid, how could this have happened she knew she wasn't one of those girls that got swept away by a handsome face…or was she? She began to think back to her old relationships and it always seemed like she fell for the wrong guy. Musa stopped and dialed Leslie's number, she was on the verge of tears, and she was angry, hurt and humiliated all at the same time. Finally Leslie picked up the phone and Musa told her everything, about how she had actually tried Isabelle's plan and how it never worked out and instead it blew up in her face. Riven never seemed to care beyond the general concern that Sky and Brandon had and she ended up looking and feeling like a complete fool. Leslie comforted the fairy over the phone for about an hour and finally Musa composed herself and got up and walked back to Alfea. 

* * *

Jason waked into his classroom right on time, and even though he had just been kneed in the groin, he had managed to gain his composure and walk into the classroom casually. He went to the other side of the room and stood next to a couple friends of his. "Looks like you're back on the market buddy," said one of Jason's buddies that saw Musa storm out of Red Fountain as he walked into the room. Jason's face remained calm even though he was a little surprised someone already knew. "I just saw your girlfriend storm out of your room," 

"Like it matters, she was getting boring." Jason said playing off the whole incident like it was nothing. He had quite the reputation at Red Fountain and he was not going to let some girl who was too prude to give it up destroy it. Just as Jason began his gloating Riven, Brandon and Sky walked into the classroom. It was advanced battle class and they had all been invited to join the seniors since they were some of the best fighters of the junior class. "Besides girls are always overreacting,"

Riven wasn't really paying attention to what was going on, he was too busy thinking about Musa and what happened in the hallway. Brandon and Sky had met him in the hallway right after Musa left him so they probably didn't know what was going on either, not that he would ask them and risk acting like he cared for her. But he kept running thought the brief encounter in his mind trying to figure things out. 

"Yeah okay man," said another one of Jason's classmates sarcastically that was sitting on his desk awaiting an answer from the hero.

"I admit I had a lot of fun with Musa, but it's time I let that one go," Jason said trying to keep his reputation in tact. Riven, who had sat down next to Brandon and Sky, began listening to the conversation when he heard Musa's name mentioned. When he realized that she and Jason had broken up, he was admittedly happy but that still didn't explain why she was leaving Red Fountain so angry. There was no way that she could have been that upset about breaking it off with Jason. Still confused, Riven listened on further. 

"Damn, you slept with Musa Dannington, nice man," said the same guy that questioned Jason before. Riven's eyes flashed when he heard this and his mind filled with anger and he was blinded with fury. Sky and Brandon also turned and looked at Jason when they heard what he had said. They all knew something like this was going to happen. 

"She needed a bit of convincing, but I hit that and let me tell you she's even better on a bed than she is on a dance floor," Jason said confidently with a smirk keeping his position as the coolest guy at Red Fountain. Riven began putting things together in his mind in that instant. Musa's clothes seemed to be rumpled and she had a few buttons undone from her shirt when she left. (Being a guy, that was the first thing that Riven noticed.) She was upset and angry and before Riven could think any further he remembered hearing Jason say that Musa needed 'convincing'. Riven automatically assumed that Jason had forced himself on Musa and without thinking Riven stood up walked over to Jason and punched him in the jaw. 

Jason fell to the floor and looked up at Riven with eyes burning with hate. He stood quickly and attempted to hit him back but Riven shoved him into the wall and grabbed a handful of Jason's shirt in his hand and shoved him back ready to punch him again. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Jason said trying to free himself from Riven's overwhelmingly strong grasp. 

"I'm going to kill you," Riven shouted and punched him again before Jason punched him back and then pushed him back. Jason looked Riven in the eye and knew exactly what was wrong and couldn't help but take a little bit of joy in the situation. 

"Oh this is about Musa," Jason said with a laugh. Riven would have pummeled him to the ground, but Sky and Brandon had managed to pull Riven back and hold him back. 

"Come on Riven, its not worth it, not for this guy," Sky said loudly shooting a look of disgust to Jason. 

"No boys, please let him go," Jason said baiting Riven even more. "He's just angry because I'm doing things to her he wishes he could," Riven tried once again to get free from his friends' grasp, but they held him back with more strength. Just then the teacher for the class walked in and immediately asked what was going on when he saw Jason beaten and Riven also looked very angry. 

"WHAT IS GOING ON!" yelled the professor. 

"Nothing professor, I have it under control," Jason said calmly. 

"You boys will stay after class, now let's begin," replied the professor and began class. For the rest of the class all Riven could think about Musa and what she did or didn't do with Jason and if Jason really had forced himself on her. One thing was for sure, Jason Warren was getting no where near her again. 

Much later that night a private jet landed at Magix International Airport. The doors to the extravagant jet opened and five figures emerged from it's lush interior. Leslie, Isabelle, Annabelle, Nate, and finally Daniel all went from the jet and began to walk toward the limousine that would take them to their hotel. "Remember guys, we're here for Musa. So let's try to make her feel better," Leslie commanded. The rest of the group nodded and the then Leslie turned her attention to Daniel, Musa's ex-boyfriend. "And Daniel, let's try to keep this trip PG," The door to the limousine closed and it drove into the twinkling metropolis. 

* * *

_Tiger's seldom change their strips!_

_1. A quote I took from Step Up 2 :The Streets. As a dancer, I absolutely love that movie! _

_2. Easy – I know that people from different parts of the country/world may read this. (not tooting my own horn, just saying that it's a possibility) and I wanted to explan the slang. 'Easy' where I'm from can mean a lot of things and I am using it in the slange form. In the slang form 'easy' means someone is slutty or they get into bed with anyone without mush convincing – they are 'easy' _

_Also, I told you guys that my original inspiration to this was a classic satiric novel and it was Jane Austin's 'Pride and Prejudice'. I have read all of her books and that one is by far my favorite one. Stella is like Ms. Bennet, Bloom and the rest of the Winx girls are like the Bennet sisters. Musa is the proud and stubborn Elizabeth and Riven is the equally proud Mr. Darcy. Also, if you haven't noticed Flora and Helia fit into the roles of Jane Bennet and Mr. Bingley pretty well. (and the little part where Flora stays at Red Fountain is a lot like when Jane stays at the Bingley estate when she is sick). I strongly suggest reading the book and the rest of Austin's work. It is simply amazing! _

_So Jason Warren is now out of Musa's love life and Riven is going to make sure of that. But it looks like we have some visitors in Magix that may shake things up. And let's not forget, Riven's girlfriend, Olivia. _

_What fun!_

_xoxo_

_princessm_


	6. A Step Too Far

* * *

Okay so now is when everything begins to well…

_Okay so now is when everything begins to well….crumble. Ah…I love drama_

_Chapter 6!_

* * *

**A Step Too Far**

**Palace Hotel – Magix**

It was past noon when the first of Musa's friends awoke from her slumber. Annabelle sat up in bed and called her friends that were all in their respective rooms. They had all decided the night before to go out in Magix for a bit until Musa's classes were over for the day and then they would go to see her that evening, so in the meantime they would soak up the culture and entertainment that the city offered.

"Hello," said the groggy voice of Leslie, who was still in bed.

"Hey, its Anna, when are we getting lunch?"

"Umm, how about like 2 then we can go shopping and then we can go surprise Musa right after dinner," Leslie said falling back to sleep.

"Okay sounds good, I'll see you later," Annabelle said getting back into bed, she planned to sleep for a couple more hours.

* * *

**Alfea – that same morning **

"WHAT!" Musa screamed into Stella's phone.

"Okay, I hate to be the one I said I told you –" Brandon said at the other end of the phone. Brandon had called Stella and when he found out that Musa was also in the room he felt he should tell her that Jason was spreading lies about her. He had failed to mention that Riven stood up and defended her honor, but he figured there wasn't much that could cheer up the fairy after the series of events that occurred.

"I really don't need that right now," Musa snapped at Brandon. "You know that nothing happened between me and Jason, right?" Musa asked hoping Brandon didn't belive that she would actually do something like that with Jason.

"I know, don't worry."

"After what he pulled yesterday!" She didn't mean to be so rude, but she already felt dumb enough about everything that happened. "I am going to kill him!" Musa said

"Wait what did he do?" Brandon asked but Musa was quick to hang up the phone before she could answer his question. She had come home last night almost in tears, but not out of sadness she was more embarrassed than anything, and she had told her friends what Jason tried with her. She decided to keep that tid bit of information from the guys because she didn't need anymore drama. Musa paced around the room angrily. She kept this up for a couple of minutes while all the girls in the dorm watched her silently. Finally, Musa stopped pacing around and sat down on a chair with her head buried in her hands. She felt like the dumbest person ever.

The girls huddled around Musa and tried to comfort her. All of them seemed to have had the wrong impression of Jason. "Oh sweetie, it's okay. There was no way you could have known he was gonna be like that," Bloom cooed trying to make her feel better.

"Yes there is!" Musa cried out and looked up at them. "Sky and Brandon and even Riven were telling me that he was bad news and I still went out with him!" The girls exchanged looks when Musa mentioned Riven's name. They had all kept quiet about how he reacted to her and Jason together at the ball because they didn't want to ruin Musa's chances at having a relationship with Jason. But in retrospect, it may been a good idea, all of the girls were still kind of holding on to the ideal that Riven and Musa would somehow end up together.

"Well, that's because you're a good person and you tend to see the good in people," Layla pointed out.

"What are you going to do?" Stella asked. She knew Musa was not just going to sit and take the lies that Jason was spreading.

"I'm going to talk to him," Musa said getting up from the chair with a determined look on her face. "And by 'talk' I mean yell," Musa said with an evil grin as she walked out of the door, she had never been so angry at someone else or at herself. Granted, she was pretty upset when she and Daniel split, but she wasn't this angry. The girls watched as Musa walked out of the room with unsure looks painted on their faces.

* * *

Musa walked into Red Fountain after a very quick flight over to the school and stood in the quad a bit embarrassed. She knew that most the of guys probably were paying no attention to her, but she couldn't shake the insecurity of feeling like everyone there was talking about her. Musa marched into Red Fountain with only one thing on her mind, making Jason regret that he had ever messed with her.

She walked into Red Fountain and walked in the direction of Jason's room when she heard her name. She turned around to see Brandon and Timmy walking down the hallway. Musa managed to put a smile on her face as she approached the two heroes in training. "What are you doing here?" Timmy asked honestly confused. He knew about what happened the day before because Brandon and Sky had filled him in on everything, but that begged the question, why did Musa want to be here?

"Oh, I'm just here to beat the crap out of a certain senior," Musa said with obvious anger in her voice.

"Well, that won't be needed," Timmy joked thinking Musa knew about what Riven had done.

"What?" Musa said confused.

"I'll fill her in, you can get to class," Brandon said knowing that Timmy wasn't very good in these types of situations. Musa and Riven's relationship was a confusing one and Timmy had just figured out how to manage and move forward with his relationship with Techna and Brandon doubted that he would be any help in this. Timmy took the dismissal with gratitude and smiled at them and promptly walked to his class.

"Did you guys do something?" It was Musa's initial thought since Sky and Brandon were never the biggest fans of Jason. She knew Timmy wasn't the kind of person to beat someone up and usually Brandon and Sky wouldn't either, but they were pretty protective of her. It was something she would have to get used to.

"I didn't," Brandon began. "Neither did Sky, it was actually Riven that gave him a huge beating, I mean it was pretty epic," Brandon said proudly. Even though he was one of the guys who restrained Riven from hitting Jason again, he had to say he was loving watching Jason fall from glory.

Musa stared at Brandon for a second and Brandon saw how her face seemed to light up when she put it together that Riven had defended her honor. "I think everyone knows Jason was lying," He consoled, he and Sky had made sure to correct anyone who made the mistake of spreading the wrong information.

"Umm can you do me a favor?" Musa asked Brandon still thinking about Riven and imagining him defending her.

"Sure," Brandon said noting the clear happiness in Musa's tone.

"Feel free to beat up Jason whenever you see him next,"

"Definitely," Brandon began to grin from ear to ear. "I should go to class, see you later. Oh and can you tell Stella I'll call her after class?"

"Sure," Musa said. After Brandon walked into a classroom, Musa made her way to someone else's room.

* * *

Timmy was sitting in class when he saw Brandon walk in with a very big grin on his face. He then saw Brandon walk up to Jason Warren (1) and swiftly throw his fist in Jason's face. "That was from Musa, and a little from me," Brandon said with a chuckle. "See ya Tim," Brandon said and walked right out of the room with an even happier disposition.

* * *

Musa approached Riven's room and tried to contain her smile. Had her plan actually worked? It was crazy to think that some crazy mind game that she would have probably never gone through without the massive pressure of her friends actually worked. She knocked on Riven's door hoping he was there.

After a couple of seconds the door opened and Musa lifted her eyes from the floor to meet the almost surprised gaze coming from the violet eyes that belonged to her favorite specialist. "Musa, what are you doing here?" Riven asked as he gestured for her to come inside.

"I umm, wanted to thank you," Musa said as she walked into the room. She got to the other side of the room and turned around to meet his gaze. He was so….drop dead sexy. Musa never minded looking at Riven, sure he had a way of being the meanest person alive, but if dealing with that meant she got to look at him, she would deal with it forever. It also helped that Riven gave her butterflies and that she knew that even though he would never agree, he probably understood her more than anyone and he did.

"For what?" Riven asked. He figured she had found out about him beating the crap out of Jason, but he was more concerned on whether Jason had done anything to violate Musa. He had heard Brandon say that Musa said she was fine, but he wanted to hear it for himself.

"You know what," Musa said as she moved a bit closer to him.

"Yeah, you don't have to thank me," Riven said with a half smile. Riven wanted to know what happened so badly, but was it really his place to ask? The whole reason he acted the way he did towards Musa was because he tried to push her away enough so that he could maybe get over her. Riven unconsciously began to lessen the space between them with each step he took closer to her.

"Yes I do, I should have believed you and the guys," Musa said. "I should have listened and known that Jason would have been _like that,_ and that he wouldn't have tried to take advantage of the situation,"

"Did he force – ," Riven began trying to both keep his cool and seem like he was a bit detached from the situation, he didn't want to seem like he cared too much.

"No, I'm okay. But thanks for making sure," Musa said looking into his eyes, this time neither of them broke the gaze. Riven was now right in front of Musa and the temptation was becoming overwhelming.

Before Riven could stop himself, he lowered his head and pressed his lips up against Musa's. He was half expecting her to pull away and slap him, but she didn't. Instead, Musa shyly began to respond to his passionate kiss. Riven pulled her closer and kissed her the way he had always wanted to. Her arms slid around his neck, an attempt on her part to pull him closer to her. Her heart began to race as she felt Riven's strong arms wrap around her body, all the while she slid her arms down to his back put both of her hands on there in an attempt to keep him close. His fingertips gently caressed her cheeks, and she pressed herself against him longingly and wished for him to take her the way he had in her dreams.

In the back of his mind, Riven knew what he was doing was wrong. There were so many reasons he could think of as to why he should never be with Musa, but there was one reason he could think of as to why he should be with her, he was madly in love with her and it was becoming more and more apparent that hiding was too hard. He was being pulled to her by his overwhelming love and desire for her, his heart always raced when he saw her, his stomach did back flips and he always found it hard to breathe. This time was no different, except this time, Riven's conscious didn't stop him from doing something that he knew he would regret later.

Ignoring all of the things he knew were right, Riven continued to kiss Musa until the two stumbled onto his bed. His one hand moving down from her face and to her neck and the other hand moved to her lower back, still not sure if he should move it lower. Musa fell on his mahogany sheets and he slowly crawled on top of her. He threw every inhibition he had to the wind and could only think about how much he wanted Musa and that now was his chance to be with her.

Musa loved every second of what was going on. Jason may have tried the same thing yesterday, but Riven was the one she wanted to be doing this with. She loved the feeling of being wrapped in Riven's arms and she could feel the passion from the kiss that had escaladed into so much more. Musa felt so strongly for him and she knew there were feelings between them. There had to be, she had never been kissed so passionately before, or so well when she thought about it, it seemed like Riven was good at everything.

Riven put his arms around Musa, who was lying underneath him, pulled away for a second. There she was the one person in the universe that he could probably open up to completely and trust. With that he lowered his head back down and kissed her again and moved his hands underneath her shirt as she let out a small moan of pleasure. Riven's mind raced, there was so much going on. He had the chance to finally be with Musa and there was probably nothing he wanted more, maybe they were meant to be. With that thought he moved down to Musa's neck and began to suck on the soft skin.

Unfortunately, fate wasn't very kind to Riven. He had never lived the charmed life Musa did and he knew very well that even if something did happen between them, she would be taken from him. He couldn't stand it if he lost her. He didn't deserve to have her and he had to stop things before he did something stupid, like sleep with her, no matter how much he wanted to be with her and tell her how much he wanted to be with her. Riven pulled away again and this time he got up and sat on the side of the bed afraid that if he stayed to close to her that he would begin kissing her again. She was too tempting.

"Sorry," he said to Musa curtly, he didn't turn to look at her because he didn't want her to see how much he was struggling to control himself. Riven never wanted to hurt Musa, but it seemed to be the only way to keep his feelings at bay.

Musa sat up and everything that just happened began to sink in. She was just dating someone a couple hours ago and she was ready to sleep with Riven a couple seconds ago. _Slut! _Musa thought to herself. She was not the type of girl to have one boyfriend after another let alone two in one day. Not that she could call Riven her boyfriend, they had always sniped at each other and bickered constantly, and now they were making out and doing other things… Musa sat up and grabbed her purse.

"It's okay, umm yeah. I should go," she said quickly and got up to leave. "Thanks for standing up for me," She said and then quickly shut the door. She felt so unbelievably stupid, she had feelings for Riven and he had just rejected her. Musa wanted to go back in time and make it so the horrible mess never happened. She was not only feeling incredibly rejected, but Jason was probably still spreading horrible lies about her.

The heartbroken fairy rushed out of Red Fountain and quickly flew back to Alfea in the hopes that some of her friends could console her.

Riven nodded and watched as she left the room. Musa walked out of the room and looked up to see Olivia walking towards the room. Musa looked a bit confused and Olivia stopped to ask her a question. "Hey you're friends with Riven, right?"

"Umm…yeah," Musa said not sure why Olivia was asking her this, she knew her, but not very well.

"Oh do you know where is room is? We have a date later and I wanted to surprise him," She said cheerfully.

Musa felt like she was just hit by a truck. Riven had a girlfriend and they were just making out. That was probably why he stopped, Musa felt like she was ready to cry. She pointed to his room and then walked away silently, wanting to cry so badly.

In a moment of weakness, Riven had given in to his carnal desires for Musa. He had forgotten all of the reasons he knew as to why they couldn't be together. He finally managed to regulate his breathing as he sat on the side of his bed, knelt over with his elbows on his knees and his face resting in his hands. The repercussions of what happened began to sink in at that moment; he would have to talk to Musa and make up some excuse as to why he had kissed her, and then stopped. Truthfully, Riven knew that he was already holding on to her too tight, he knew he had to move on from his feelings, but he never wanted to. And if they had ended up having sex he would never be able to get over her and that would make losing her even harder. He knew he was going to lose Musa after he graduated in the sense that he was going to make it a point to stay away from her. Riven was now seeing clearly and his judgment wasn't clouded by pointless emotions like love and affection, emotions that began to arise whenever he saw, though about, or was around Musa.

Riven laid back in his bed and made an attempt to clear his mind, but when he took a deep he could get a faint smell Musa's perfume on his pillow. It smelled like a bed of roses and all Riven could think about was waking up next to her, holding her and having her with him. He got up and walked out of his room, there was no need to keep thinking about her, it was pointless. He was wasting his time thinking about her, nothing could happen and nothing would again. He wanted to protect her and keep her safe, and he was going to do that and nothing else.

* * *

Musa walked into the common room and saw Stella typing away feverishly on her laptop. She laughed at the sight and sat down on the couch. "Finishing your potions paper?" Musa asked.

"Finishing, starting…same difference," Stella said and then shut the laptop and walked over to Musa. "So did you put Jason in his place?"

"You could say that," Musa said with a smile. "If he talks about me again, I may have to kill him,"

"Well I'll help, he's such a jackass," Stella said in agreement. "But telling him off took awhile, I mean you've been gone awhile," Stella said for a lack of a better word.

"Yeah well turns out Riven beat up Jason for talking about me," Musa said still unsure if she should tell anyone about what happened.

"That's so sweet!" Stella squealed, "Who knew Riven was so caring?" Then Stella noticed the look on Musa's face. She looked hurt and upset. "Musa, that's a good thing right. I mean at least we know he's not dead inside," Stella joked hoping to lighten the mood. The joke did not appear to have gone over so well.

"That's not funny," Musa said a bit protectively as if she were defending Riven.

"Sorry, but what's wrong. I would be happy if someone helped me out," Stella said. She knew perfectly well what was wrong, but it would mean a lot more if Musa actually came out and said it. She didn't believe the whole 'I'm over Riven' thing for a second and it wasn't like Musa to date Jason, he was the complete opposite of her, he was like Daniel. Stella had enjoyed the fact that Musa was with someone and that she seemed happy, but now she was so upset and she never wanted that for her best friend. Stella mused at the thought of how much Jason was like Musa's ex Daniel. Jason was over confident in his approach to love, he took advantage of his relationship, he was a jackass. Just like Daniel.

"Well, I went to say thank you to him and," Musa stopped. She wasn't sure she wanted to deal with all of this yet. She did start dating Jason in some weird attempt to make Riven notice her a bit more, but all the mind game seemed to accomplish was Riven rejecting her and now that the games were over she was left with nothing. She was going to choke Isabelle next time she saw her.

"And…" Stella asked impatiently drawing Musa out of her deep thought.

"We ended up making out and we were on his bed and he was on top of me and…" Musa said recalling the event.

"OH MY GOD!" Stella screamed

"No Stella please calm down, nothing –"

"OH MY GOD!!" She screamed again happily. "YOU SLEPT WITH RIVEN!"

"Keep your voice down, I need your help," Musa said quietly and by the look on her face Stella knew that she was serious. "And we didn't have sex, we just made out for awhile," Musa said looking down as she began to blush, she never thought she would be having this conversation about Riven.

"Okay what's wrong besides the obvious slut factor?" Stella asked not sure on how to answer. She thought that Musa's brief relationship with Jason was he finally getting over Riven. "Start from the beginning,"

Musa knew that she could talk to Stella about this sort of thing, they may be very different people, but Stella would have some type of advice on this subject. "Okay, well over the summer…" Musa began and she told the entire story of how she planned on making Riven jealous with Jason and how that pretty much blew up in her face.

"Oh Musa…" Stella sighed sympathetically after she heard the story. "But I have to say, the plan did kinda work, I mean you got a reaction out of Riven," She added positively.

"Yeah and directly after he realized he was making out with me," Musa began as she dejectedly drew random circles on a piece of paper. "He stopped and then apologized," She recalled. "Besides he is dating Olivia now,"

"I think we need a new plan, a lot like the old one, just revamped," Stella suggested. "I mean the other one was pretty genius, but I just need a bit of help working out the details of my plan to get Riven to realize what he's missing," Stella finished with a look of deep thought painting her face.

"Please no more –" Musa began before Stella cut her off again.

"Who could help with this," Stella said to herself ignoring Musa's plea to stop all the mind games. And then as if on cue, Isabelle, Annabelle, Leslie, Nate and much to Musa's dismay, Daniel, walked into the room.

"SURPRISE!" Leslie and Annabelle screamed happily. Musa smiled to see her old friends, but somehow she knew things were going to get messy and they would get messy quick.

* * *

1. _Okay so for argument sake, lets just say they all happen to have classes with Jason. Btw, I love what Brandon did. _

_So I hope everyone that was deprived of Musa/Riven fluff is happy, I devoted like 2 pages to them making out. But, then there's Olivia and Daniel is back not to mention what Stella has planned for Musa and now that she can collaborate with Isabelle and Annabelle. And then there is someone from the second season that also seemed to capture Musa's attention. Rhymes with 'Pared'. I do love drama. _

_xoxo_

_princessm_


	7. When Worlds Collide

Okay so now we get to see what happens when Musa's friends decided to help her out with her love life

_Thanks you all so much for all the support! I am hoping this chapter lived up to the suspense! Okay so now we get to see what happens when Musa's friends decided to help her out with her love life. _

_Chapter 7! _

* * *

**When Worlds Collide**

"Hey guys!" Musa exclaimed with a confused look on her face. Stella ushered the five of them into the room and took a seat next to Musa, who seemed to be speechless for a couple seconds, but finally managed to find her voice. "What are you guys doing here?" Musa asked still pretty surprised. Just as Musa asked that the rest of the Winx Club walked in and looked over to Stella with questioning looks on their faces. They had met Daniel, Leslie, Isabelle and Annabelle before, but they didn't know the guy who had his arm around Leslie, but it was a safe guess that he was her boyfriend.

"Well after you called about… you know," Leslie began referring to Musa's brief relationship with Jason, everyone in the room knew about Jason, but by the look on Musa's face made Leslie know not to say his name aloud.

"Your horrible lapse in judgment," Daniel finished for Leslie with a smug look, he figured he had some right to rub her mistake in her face since she was the one who left him for someone obviously not fit for her. Musa stood up to hug everyone, including Daniel, even after that comment she couldn't deny that she missed him as well as all her other friends.

"Dan, please," Nate said then rolled his eyes at the prince. "We figured you needed some fun and cheering up, and who better for the job than us?"

"Thanks guys," Musa said with a smile creeping through her surprised expression. "Oh, girls you remember my friends, and I don't think you met Nate," Musa said turning to the Winx Club as she reintroduced them to her friends. The eleven of them sat and talked awhile, but managed to avoid the subject that brought Musa's friends to Magix.

"How about dinner," Leslie said after an hour of conversation. It was mid evening and it seemed like they were going to be there for awhile since they had been talking for an hour and they had yet to scratch the surface as to why they were there in the first place.

"I don't feel like going out, how about we order some food," Musa suggested. She really didn't feel like being out right now.

"Sounds good and then we can talk about this whole messy situation," Annabelle said.

"And we can talk about Riven," Stella said loudly and say Musa's eye grow wide with anger when she brought up Riven. "Calm down, you knew I was going to blurt it out at some point,"

"Well, as much as I would love to talk to about this and as much we would love to stay and have a fun night in," Daniel said with immense sarcasm.

"We think we'll go out for awhile, and we'll see you guys tomorrow," Nate finished. They did come to Magix to see Musa, but that didn't mean they wanted to sit through what would surely turn out as hours of 'girl talk'. They figured they would go out and have some fun for the night and meet Musa and her friends tomorrow.

"Okay well we'll see you guys tomorrow," Leslie said getting up to say goodbye to Nate and Daniel.

"Oh make sure to tell her about – " Nate began

"I know," Leslie cut him off quickly, but it didn't go unnoticed by the group.

"We promised her fa–"

"I know, I'll take care of that too," Leslie reassured as she ushered the guys out of the room.

"Tell who about what?' Musa asked skeptically when Nate and Daniel were out of room. Leslie simply shook her head as if she were brushing off the subject. She had more important things to discuss for now.

"Okay so what is going on?" Annabelle asked frankly. The only two in the room that were aware of the entire situation were Stella and Musa and if Musa didn't dish about everything that happened, Stella definitely would. "Besides you going after the same type of guy over and over," she finished with an exasperated sigh.

"What? I don't do that," Musa denied defensively. But, she gave the subject some more thought and realized that she did tend to date guys that were no good for her.

"Let's see, there's Jason, Daniel, and then of coarse –" Leslie began to list all of the many failed relationships Musa had and there was one common denominator, she tended to date jerks. "Face it hun, it's almost like you pick guys to date that you know will hurt you,"

"I didn't think Daniel was going to hurt me!" Musa shot back in her defense. "He did that all on his own,"

"Yeah, anyway let's get to more pressing matters," Isabelle insisted.

"Well, you are all caught up with what happened with Jason right?" Musa asked and got a nod from all the girls whose eyes were now fixated on the princess. She took a breathe and looked over to Stella that gave her an encouraging nod. She really didn't want to go further, but she did need help with what to do or how to get over Riven so she reluctantly continued. "I went to go tell off Jason today and I found out that Riven had beat up Jason for me," Musa began again stopping for a second while her friends decided to 'awww' in unison. "I went to go thank him and we ended up making out,"

"What!"

"Oh my god!"

"Really?"

"Wait, which one is he?" Isabelle said confused in the midst of all the other surprised outbursts from the Winx Club. Leslie, Isabelle and Annabelle had never met Riven before, but when they came to visit Musa last year, Leslie figured out who he was and she pointed him out one day when she was in Magix shopping with the twins.

"Hottie with the body!" Annabelle exclaimed loudly in a proud voice.

"Him! Nice M," Isabelle exclaimed in a tone mimicking her sister's.

As if Musa wasn't uncomfortable about the situation enough, now everyone was buzzing about her and Riven's make out session, they were so excited she almost didn't have the heart to tell them that Riven had no real interest in her and that he was dating Olivia, but just the thought upset her and hurt a great deal and it was obvious by the look on her face.

"Hey Musa, what's wrong," Said Flora being the first to notice the look on her face.

"Well, after we kissed, or actually it was during," Musa began. "Riven pulled away and apologized, that's not the worst part though. I left like a second after he apologized for kissing me and ran into his _girlfriend_," Musa was both angry and upset at both herself and Riven. She knew Riven didn't feel the way about her that she did about him but a part of her still believed that he was masking some hidden feelings, and that was what led her to actually engaging in the kiss. She thought that maybe it was the push he needed. She felt so stupid. And then she was angry at Riven for kissing her, it was as if he was out to hurt her. He had a girlfriend! And he was kissing her before his date with Olivia, Musa was angry at him for so many reasons and now one of them was for making her feel like a slut.

"He has a girlfriend! And he kissed you!" Leslie exclaimed. "Jackass." Musa's eyes flashed at the statement. No matter how angry she was at Riven, she always felt the need to defend him.

"He's just projecting (1)," Isabelle said eloquently. "He has feelings for you and for some reason he doesn't want to admit it so he is going out with Olivia to take out his…frustrations." No matter how ditsy and dumb Isabelle sounded, she always seemed to surprise everyone when she had her moments of intelligence.

"I highly doubt that's what's going on," Musa said sadly looking at the ground. She thought she saw longing in his eyes, but maybe it was guilt for cheating on Olivia. "I don't know what to think anymore, I mean what should I do now?" Musa questioned. What else could she do? It's not like she could force Riven into a relationship he didn't want and even if he did want it, there was obviously something holding him back. "I guess I should just let it go,"

"NO!" Stella and Isabelle seemed to yell at the same time. "You can't do that Musa, he obviously wants you and I think Isabelle's plan was good, but you chose the wrong guy," Stella said positively.

"I dunno, what will dating someone else prove?" Bloom asked skeptically, after everything had blown up in Musa's face was it really best to start that all over again? "I mean she tried that once and it ended less than perfect so what sense does it make to do it again."

"Yeah, Bloom's right," Layla added. "I mean who says Musa even needs to date right now,"

"Valid points," Annabelle agreed. "But no, Stella continue please,"

"Look, there is a guy at Red Fountain who is the sweetest thing and he's totally cute," Stella began. "Plus he already has a crush on Musa and if nothing happens with Musa and Riven then she might actually like this guy, besides he's a really nice person."

"Sounds good," The twins agreed excitedly.

"Well, if all else fails then it will help Musa move on from everything that had happened," Flora agreed timidly. She had to be filled in on all the happenings of the Winx Club since she spent awhile at Red Fountain. She was hoping that Riven would step up and try to be with Musa because it became apparent to Flora that Riven had feelings for the musical princess. Helia had let it slip about how he was always looking in her direction at the ball and that he was pretty upset with her relationship with Jason. But, there was something holding him back.

"Do I get any say in this?" Musa asked from her seat, it seemed like the entire conversation began to center around Stella's plan and nobody had really given any thought as to how Musa would feel about going out with some other guy, that she may or may not like. She felt like everything was being done for her and she had to grin and bear it. It was like she was back to living in the palace with her many nannies telling her what to do and how to do it. "I mean this is my love life, right?" Musa asked with obvious attitude in her voice.

"Don't take that tone with us missy, we're helping," Leslie said in a motherly tone.

"Fine, I'll do it," Musa said defeated.

"Great! I'll set it up, how about the day after tomorrow?" Stella asked with newfound excitement. "We need to give the boy some time,"

"No actually that's no good," Leslie said answering for Musa.

"Since when are you scheduling my life?" Musa asked taken aback by Leslie's assertiveness.

"Okay we have a bit of a confession, we aren't only here to cheer you up," Annabelle said addressing not only Musa, but the Winx Club. "I mean it is the main reason, but there is also the Crescendian Royal Gala the day after tomorrow and it's here in Magix, (2) Musa was sent a formal invitation that she never responded to, so we're here to well,"

"Drag me there kicking and screaming?" Musa suggested knowing that is what they were going to do. Musa loved her friends, but sometimes they really did become bossy.

"Well all of you girls are invited and your friends or boyfriends from Red Fountain, it will be fun," Leslie said. And Musa gave her a hard look. "Okay in the beginning it's very royal and official, but later on in the gala the adults tend to leave and we end up having some fun and playing our own music and breaking into the bar, you know fun stuff like that," She finished. (3)

"Sounds like a lot of fun," Bloom said.

"Yeah, I'm in," Layla agreed, normal she wasn't one for royal parties, but now that she had friends to go with, they would probably be a lot more fun. The rest of the girls agreed and finally Musa gave in and said yes. After a couple minutes she thought about it and it would be fun to go to a party with her friends and she would see some people she hadn't seen in awhile. Another hour passed and the girls ate and talked until they realized how late it was and Leslie and the twins headed out for the night. They were going to meet the girls the next day at around noon.

* * *

That night Riven laid in his bed thinking about Musa, it wasn't out of the ordinary since he always seemed to be thinking about her, and when he was sleeping he was usually dreaming about her. But tonight was different, he actually had some hope that maybe there could be something between him and Musa. He had run through everything that happened between them all day and every time he thought about it, he mentally noted that it didn't take very long for Musa to respond to him. That was probably why Riven broke things off with Olivia that night, he was dating her to get his mind off of Musa, but it didn't help and he ended up making out with her. With that Riven let his mind wonder to Musa as he fell asleep.

* * *

**The Next Day **

The next morning the girls got up early and Leslie and the twins met the Winx Club at their dorm so that they could get some lunch together and later they were going to go shopping for some new dresses for the gala. The pixies had decided that they were going back to pixie villiage to make sure that the Codex was okay and too see the other pixies for the next couple of days since the girls would be busy with the gala and of coarse all of Musa's drama.

"Are you guys sure, you're welcome to come to the gala with us," Musa asked the pixies as they got ready to leave for pixie village.

"Yes Musa, it will be nice to go back for awhile. But, this doesn't mean I have changed my expectations for you to be polite at the gala," Tune insisted.

The rest of the girls came into Musa's room and they all began to talk about this and that and finally decided to go to lunch. After the pixies and fairies left the dorm a pair of golden eyes, that was spying on them the whole time and saw a perfect opportunity unfolding.

In Magix, the girls were out to lunch while Nate and Daniel decided to explore the city. They were walking through the city when Nate accidentally bumped into someone he defiantly met before. "Oh excuse me," Nate said politely to Prince Sky who was with his friends Riven and Brandon.

"It's alright, don't I know you?" Sky questioned out of the blue, he swore he had met him once before. "Nathan Calloway?"

"Yeah, Sky right?" Nate said and Sky agreed. "I saw you at that huge party Daniel's dad threw last year for New Year's, right Dan?"

Daniel looked up from his cell phone and smiled. "Oh I remember that one, but not you guys, but I spent most of the night with my girlfriend so don't take it personally,"

"Oh this is my friend Daniel Cunningham," Nathan said introducing him even though he had already kinda introduced himself.

"Brandon,"

"Riven," Said the two heroes that hadn't been introduced yet.

"Wait aren't you guys friends with like Princess Stella?" Daniel asked trying to make up for the fact that he had no idea who they were, but he did remember hearing Stella squeal the name 'Brandon' last night when some guy called her.

"Yeah, you know her?" Brandon asked a bit suspiciously.

"Well kinda, we're friends with Musa," Nate said.

"Oh Musa! Yeah we're friends with her too, we've known her and the rest of the girls since last year," Sky said.

"Hey we have to go," Daniel began when he looked and saw he was getting a call from Annabelle. "But you guys should come to my father's gala tomorrow. Don't worry it's not some stuffy royal affair, most of the old bats will be gone by like 10 anyway and by then it's a pretty good party."

"The girls are already coming so you should come too," Nate suggested.

"Yeah, Stella told me about that last night, sounds like fun," Brandon agrred.

"Great I'll have Leslie take care of it, we should go," Nate said politely. "We'll see you later," With that the two groups parted from each other and Daniel and Nate headed off the see the girls, particularly Musa since they hadn't spent any real time with her yet. They met the girls in front of one of the shops expctng to see Musa, but she wasn't there.

"Where's Musa?" Daniel asked.

"That's why we need you," Leslie said. "She's been down and you two have always been clse and you always know how to pick her up when she's down so you need to go talk to her,"

"Is that the best option, I mean considering," Daniel said referring to his past history with the princess.

"Come on, this will be perfect for you to get back to normal with her," Isabelle insisted.

Daniel gave it some thought and realized that he really did need to do something to get back on the same page as Musa. They were best friends a while ago and things got very weird since they broke up and he did want things to get back to normal. "Fine, where is she," He said finally giving in. "Where is she?" Techna told him that she went over to the lake and she also told him exactly how to get there.

While Daniel went out to see Musa, Nate stole Leslie away from the girls, who went back to Alfea with the twins, and the two went to see a movie.

* * *

**Red Fountain – Later that day**

Riven got back from Magix after meeting Nate and Daniel and all he could think about was seeing Musa next. He didn't now why, but all of a sudden he had hope in the fact that there may be a chance for a relationship to unfold between him and Musa. It was probably because of the kiss that he had on his mind since yesterday. He had barely paid attention to anything since then since his mind kept drifting to the smell of her perfume, or the feeling of having her wrapped in his arms. And feeling her small hands run up and down his body. He wanted her so badly and maybe she wanted the same thing too, he couldn't help but think about how great it would be if they were together. Riven left Red Fountain and got on his leva bike, driving around always seemed to be therapeutic for him and maybe he could get some perspective on what to do, but he really felt like he had to make a move, it killed him every day that he wasn't with her and what was worse, he didn't think he could handle seeing her with anyone else.

* * *

Musa sat at the base of large tree and looked out at the lake. She began to think about everything that happened between her and Riven. Was going out with Stella's guy really going to help her out with anything? Or would it just be another empty relationship? Musa sat there thinking for a while when she someone stood in front of her and blocked her view. She looked up to see none other than the prince of Crescendo staring down at her with an adorable smile. "Move over, M," he commanded.

Musa simply nodded and moved over so that Daniel could sit next to her, but Musa still managed to keep a good amount of space between herself and Daniel and it didn't go unnoticed by him. "So, why are you here? Oh and did you know Leslie is now planning my love life?" Musa asked not looking at him but straight ahead. She didn't really know why she just blurt that out to Daniel, but a part of her wanted to talk to him about this sort of things, they had been such good friends before they started dating.

"Yeah, so I hear," Daniel began with a laugh and sat down next to Musa. "Honestly, I think you would have been better off with me, I mean at least the twins and Leslie wouldn't be planning your love life," Daniel joked. "You don't have too scoot away from me, I have the purest of intentions, promise,"

"Sorry if I'm not convinced," Musa said looking over to Daniel and scooting back next to him an act that elicited a smile from the musical prince. "I mean considering our history,"

"Ahh yes, our history," Daniel began with a deep sigh and put his arm around Musa's shoulder and she leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder. If this were a couple months ago, it would have been a very dangerous move since she always seemed to have a weakness for Daniel, but now she only saw him as a friend and she even managed to forgive his past transgressions. "You know I am really sorry about how things ended between us," Daniel continued and looked down at Musa, who had turned her head upward to meet his gaze. "I mean breaking up was definitely the right move, but I could have handled everything a lot better, you didn't deserve what I did," (4)

"I know I didn't," Musa said superiorly. She turned her head back to look at the lake in front of her. "But thanks and thanks for coming, I'm glad you did," Musa said genuinely, she and Daniel had been best friends since they were infants and she didn't want their romantic past to get in the way of what was a life long friendship.

"Hey no problem," Daniel said. He didn't know completely what was going on, but he knew that Musa was seriously crushing, or maybe more, on some guy and the girls had a plan to set her up with someone else in some bizarre attempt to make him want her. When he thought about it, jealously was probably was really good way to get a guy's attention, it worked on him when he realized Musa liked someone else while they were dating, (5) so it made him think that their harebrained scheme might actually produce the desired result. "And I also hear that you will be attending the royal gala my father is throwing,"

"Do I really have a choice," Musa said since her friends gave her no real option but to go to the gala.

"Nope, none of us do," Daniel said with fake excitement. "But your other friends are coming so, the more the merrier,"

"I guess, but a royal gala is the last thing I need right now, plus the twins decided to wait until now to tell me that I will be making an official entrance meaning I need and escort. It's like fate is just trying to piss me off,"

"Well that is where I can help," Daniel said as he stood up and took Musa's hand in a gesture for her to stand as well. He then got down on one knee and Musa began to laugh.

"What the hell are you doing?" Musa said between laughs. She stopped laughing in a couple moments and Daniel continued.

"Since we seem to be the perfect couple, and since nothing would make our families happier than seeing us arrive together at such a Grande event," Daniel began. Little did the pair know that there were a set of violet eyes that arrived the moment Daniel decided to get down on one knee. Musa knew that Daniel was just being his goofy self, but from an outside observer's view, things looked very different. "I, Prince Daniel William Cunningham get down on bended knee to ask you, my darling princess, to escort me to Crescendo's royal gala," Daniel did need a date, he had planned to take Isabelle, but he figured Musa could use some fun and they always seemed to have a good time together.

Musa smiled from ear to ear, it was nice to smile and laugh again, it was like none of the messiness of the year had even happened. "You really are my prince charming aren't you?" Musa said in a rather serious voice, but the look on her face made it known that she was joking along with Daniel.

Riven, who had watched the entire scene play out from a distance, looked with heartbreak in his eyes. He had always known that Musa was destined for someone far greater than him, but now he actually had a face to place to the shadowed figure in his mind that would take Musa from him. Musa's prince was Daniel Cunningham and Riven knew he would never be able to measure up to him. He hated himself for not putting all of this together before. He had met Daniel and Nate in Magix and they even said that they were friends of Musa, Daniel even mentioned that he was with his girlfriend the entire night when he met Sky, Daniel's girlfriend was Musa. And it looked like they were getting back together. (6)

He hated Daniel for so many reasons, Daniel could be everything to Musa that he couldn't and worst of all he really seemed to be perfect for her. He made her laugh and she looked so comfortable around Daniel, whereas Musa always seemed to be a bit uncomfortable around him. He was not only a prince, but their families were friends, he had become familiar with the situation when Sky explained everything about his engagement with Diaspro after the day of the royals. But, the difference was that Sky didn't want to be with her and it looked like Musa did want to be with Daniel. The only thing Riven could take a little comfort in was that he came upon the scene when he did, at least he didn't tell Musa how he felt. He couldn't even imagine how horrible it would have felt to not only get his heart broken, but also lose all of his pride in the process. It was all he really had. At least this way he could suffer silently, like he had been doing for so long. He felt so dumb for convincing himself that Musa shared the feelings he did and that the enormous issue of rank could be so easily overlooked. With once last glance at the princess, Riven knew he was fighting insurmountable odds. He walked back over to his leva bike and sped away, hoping by some miracle the speed would make him lose the feelings he had and probably would always harbor for Musa.

"So the pixies are going to a party," said a voice hiding in the darkness that had witnessed the entire scene not only between the two royals but also the larger one. With a playful smirk painting her face she thought about the many possibilities. "And poor little puppy dog, maybe the confidence spell was a bit too much," Darcy had been watching the Winx Club and their little heroes all week to get some clues as to when they should attack next. And the job did get boring, so some drama was always nice, there was definitely a grudge she was holding towards that nauseating princess and Riven and keeping them apart was a lot of fun. Suddenly all that was left was a bit of purple smoke shadowed in the darkness.

"So what's on the agenda for the rest of the day," Daniel asked as the two began heading back toward Alfea. "By the way, Leslie is taking all of your friends out shopping so you can either go with them or come to dinner with me and Nate,"

"I think I'm going to go home and shower," Musa said. "Then dinner with you and Nate, definitly,"

"Awesome," Daniel said and linked arms with the princess. Musa laid her head on her friend's shoulder and walked back to Alfea with him. Daniel always had a way of making everything seem like it was going to be okay.

* * *

_**1**__. Projecting – __is a __defense mechanism__ in which one attributes one's own unacceptable or unwanted thoughts or/and emotions to others. This happens to lessen the anxiety of wanting something that is wrong. Riven feels that loving Musa is unacceptable since his very low rank in society, so he projects his feelings onto Olivia so that he can feel better about it. _

_**2**__. Hmm very convenient, just saying_

_**3**__. I know that drinking at such a young age is wrong, but who are we kidding? When teenagers have parties we all now that not everyone will be sober. I'm not saying it's right, just saying it happens. Plus, Musa's old friends seem like the kind to be social drinkers, don't you think? _

_**4**__. Okay so if you want to know the entire back story behind Daniel and Musa, I suggest reading 'Paradise Lost' the whole fic pretty much shows what happened in their relationship. I wrote a quick summary of what happened in my profile, but you may not get all of the referrals I make to their relationship, so check it out if you're curious. _

_**5. **__Again, just something that would be best understood if you read 'Paradise Lost' or if you read the summary in my profile. The jist of their relationship is that they used to be best friends because they grew up together and then began to date but then broke up when Daniel cheated on her, but he only did it cause he knew Musa's heart belonged to someone else (Riven). They had a very on and off relationship since then and they both want to get back to the friendship they used to have. _

_**6. **__If you haven't notices, I love misunderstandings. They are the foundation for good drama!_

_Goodbye Olivia! Now Riven is single and he wants to tell Musa how he feels, but wait! He thinks that Musa is swept up by prince Daniel. They were so close but come on, you know I would never make it that easy. And we always have Musa's date with the guy Stella wants to set her up with to look forward to. But now, it's time for the royal gala – hmm what fun will I stir up there? And then there are the witches that have been spying on the girls. Tsk Tsk - Why can't we all just get along? _

_xoxo,_

_princessm_


	8. A Whole New World

_King Alexander Cunningham and Queen Sophia Cunningham cordially invite you to attend the Crescendian Royal Gala at the Luxe Hotel Grande Ballroom in Magix. It will be a truly magical night…_

* * *

**A Whole New World **

"Dude, get your tux on we're gonna be late!" exclaimed Brandon when he noticed Riven was still lounging in his room in his very casual attire.

"Do I really have to go? I mean come on, don't tell me you're looking forward to this," Riven complained, sure he usually complained about everything else, but today he really didn't want to go to the party tonight. He had been to enough parties where Musa was in the arms of another guy and he really didn't need to add this one to the list.

"Come on it will be fun," Brandon encouraged. "Besides the girls will kill us if we don't show," He then took the tux that was hanging on his door knob and put it on Riven's bed hoping it would speed up the process.

"I'd like to see those pixies try," Riven grumbled and took the tux and gave into the fact that he would probably be forced into this no matter how he tried to get out of it. Helia then walked into his room and looked at his roommate and smiled from ear to ear.

"Tonight is gonna be great," Helia said excitedly. It was going to be the first time he saw Flora since she left Red Fountain's infirmary and he had been in a jolly mood all day, which was a stark contrast from Riven who had been even more grumpy that usual. Helia put his stuff away and gave himself a glance in the mirror excited and nervous to see Flora, then he walked out the door expecting Riven to follow in a couple minutes.

"Tonight is gonna blow," Riven signed after he got dressed and styled his hair and finally walked out of the room and joined his friends and prepared to endure a night he would surely hate.

Musa stood in the hotel room where she and the girls got ready. Most the girls were already downstairs in the grand ballroom of Magix's posh Luxe Hotel. Leslie and the twins were all going to be presented officially so they were waiting in the wings outside the grande ballroom to be presented. Musa and Daniel would be the last ones since Daniel's father was throwing the ball, thus Daniel was seen as the guest of honor. Musa stood in front of a full length and looked at herself.

Her hair was done up in curls and they were pulled back into a bun with a few loose curls hanging down. She was wearing a beautiful blue ball gown that was princess like in every way. It was strapless with a tight corset top that was intricately designed with simmering blue and white beads and the bottom of the dress flared outward to look almost like a wedding gown, but it's deep blue color that was paired with white beads made it look like a ball gown. It was perfect in every way and Musa hated it. She did think she looked pretty, but she would have preferred a shorter dress with less poof to it, but this was the type of dress a princess was expected to wear and she would have rather dealt with one night in this dress than lectures from her aunt Galiena for the next 6 months. (1) The final piece to her outfit was the tiara. It was an exquisite piece of jewelry made complete of platinum and diamonds and she had admitted to herself that it was beautiful, but it was rather heavy to have to wear all night. Musa heard a knock at the door and gave herself a final look in the mirror and went to answer the door.

Musa opened the door and saw Daniel standing there in his tux with a single red rose in his hand. "Wow, you look beautiful," Daniel said honestly. Before saying anything else he put out his hand offering the rose to Musa. "I was told by my wonderful etiquette teacher that a man should always have something nice to give to their escort," Daniel said referencing his, Musa's, Leslie's, Nate's, the twins', and a few other people from their group of friends' etiquette teacher. They all had to endure years of an insufferable old woman teaching them extremely formal and annoying practices of how a royal should act. They rarely ever followed these rules with the expectation of royal events and of coarse when they were around their strict family.

"You clean up nice too, Cunningham," Musa said very informally to Daniel who was acting very formal tonight, probably because his father was around. Daniel would never admit it, but deep down he was always trying to please his dad and he never seemed to be able to so all of his 'rich boy' antics were a way of trying to get his father's attention.

"Yeah, but you already knew that," Daniel said smugly as he put out his arm and Musa took it and they continued down the hallway. He and Musa very often found themselves as each other's dates for affairs like this and it was nice since they were best friends and it usually made it so they had some fun during even the most boring of royal affairs.

"Yeah, I was just being nice," Musa said before right before they reached the top of the grande staircase. They both looked straight ahead and smiled waiting to be announced.

"His royal highness, Prince Daniel Cunningham of Crescendo accompanied by her royal highness, Princess Musa Dannington of the Harmonic Nebula," Said a voice loudly into a microphone. Since this was a royal affair, there was no clapping or anything like that, rather everyone was supposed to watch in awe of the two elite members of society descend the staircase.

The ballroom was filled with twinkling lights and beautifully decorated tables set around the dance floor that was practically empty except for everyone that was presented before them, they were all coupled in a circle awaiting Musa and Daniel to descend the stairs so that the first dance of the night could begin. Musa slowly descended the staircase onto the dance floor and looked around as she took each step downward. She saw her friends sitting at tables to her right and they were all smiling at her and mouthing things like 'you look amazing' to her. Even though she tried to contain the huge smile that their enthusiasm caused, since a princess should never show emotional extremes at such a formal affair, she had a huge smile on her face. She then looked over to Daniel who had a composed smile on his face, which was surprising since he was usually the one to do something inappropriate in an attempt to piss off his parents. He looked over to her and they smiled at each other and finally reached the last step. Promptly after they reached to floor, a photographer took their picture and the music began to play as Daniel led Musa onto the center of the dance floor and with that the evening's festivities could begin.

Riven watched Musa come down the staircase and his eyes were so fixated on her that he didn't even notice that she was on the arm of Prince Daniel. She looked so beautiful, which was no surprise to him, but tonight she looked regal. He had seen her in a dress before, but this one was far fancier and she looked so perfect. He had forgotten everything else going on in his life and his mind seemed to go blank, a phenomenon that commonly happened when he was around her. He slapped back to reality when Musa began dancing with Daniel in the center of the dance floor. The people dancing looked almost like dolls being moved mechanically, their movements were so precise and perfect. Even though it hurt him so much, he continued to watch Daniel twirl Musa around the dance floor, this was another thing Daniel could do with Musa that he couldn't. Riven's eyes moved from Musa to the sparkling tiara on her head, it was hard to miss, it completed her regal presence.

* * *

"I knew that stupid pixie would lead us right here," Icy said with an evil cackle. She looked over to Darcy who had accompanied her on the trip to get the pixie's share of the codex in Pixie village while Stormy stayed behind as a lookout. (2)

The Pixies were allowed to go home for that weekend when they got special permission from Ms. Faragonda, they were told that they had to cast a masquerade spell to conceal themselves so that nobody could follow them to Pixie Village. Unfortunately, the witches had been spying on the faires since before they took Red Fountain's part of the Codex, (3) so they knew about the spell that pixies were going to use and they knew just how to get around it.

Icy and Darcy were hiding behind a bush watching the pixies prance around happily in the flowers and the fabled flower of life. They were not sure where the Codex was, but they knew that they could get it out of the pixies one way or the other. Quickly, Icy stepped out and froze about half the village with a flick of her wrist. Then, the pixies quickly realized what was going on and began to panic. Nobody had ever bothered the tranquility of pixie village before and quite frankly they had never really planned many defense strategies for an attack.

"Now calm down you little runts," Icy said demandingly.

"We want the Codex and you are going to hand it over!" Darcy said grabbing a pixie in her hand to make an example out of her.

"Let them go at once!" demanded another voice. It was the queen of Pixie Village; she looked much like a pixie version of Ms. Faragonda and talked like her too.

"Give us the Codex and we'll leave," Icy negotiated. "Or this may get a bit messy,"

"Leave at once!" Demanded the Pixie queen once again, but she noticed that Icy and Darcy did not seem at all phased by her threats so she decided to protect the village the only way she could. "Enchanted Vine!"

Icy and Darcy were stuck in a thick vine for a couple of seconds, but managed to break free quickly. Now the pixies had managed to anger the witches and there would be no mercy now. "Give us the Codex, or none of you will leave here alive!" With that Icy began to freeze everything in her sight while Darcy began to attack the pixies as if they were targets that she used during training.

"Stop at once," said the pixie queen loudly. She reluctantly turned to the other pixies and knew what she had to do. "Leave us in peace and I will give you the Codex,"

Icy and Darcy stopped their attacks and watched at the queen's septor turned into a piece of the Codex. They greedily snatched it up and began to walk away. "Oh and we wouldn't want anyone trying to stop us, so," Darcy said with a malicious smile.

Icy then said a spell and put a huse ice barrier around the village. The ice was far too thick to be broken through. Now all they had to do was get back to Shadowhaunt, hopefully with no annoying interruptions by the Winx Club. Unfortunately, they hadn't seen that the one pixie that led them there was the one who managed to get out of the village before that put it on deep freeze.

* * *

The party continued quite smoothly and everyone began having fun almost directly after the first formal dance. Musa did have to do some official things like see Daniel's parents since they, as Daniel's mother would say, loved her like the daughter they _could _have. The Cunningham majesties were not at all subtle about wanting Musa to be with Daniel and they were probably more upset when she and Daniel broke up than Musa and Daniel were. After that awkward meeting, Musa had fun with her friends for the rest of the night. The whole group of them was having dinner when Nate managed to change the music into something that they wanted to dance to, most of the older more conservative party guests had either left or gone to another more quiet room to talk about modern art (4) or something stuffy.

"Hey do you think the kinda mean one is the one Musa likes?" Daniel asked as he and Nate began to chose a playlist for the rest of the night.

"I dunno, I think I'm gonna let the girls take care of this one," Nate began. "I decided to stay out of her love life after you two broke up,"

"Yeah but come on, you're not curious?" Daniel asked. He was strictly friends with Musa, but like any other guy he was competitive and he wanted to know if this new guy was better than he was, at what he wasn't sure, but he wanted to know.

"Not really," Nate said looking at Daniel suspiciously. "But you seem to be very interested; please don't tell me you're still in –"

"Let me stop you before you start talking crazy," Daniel interrupted. "I just want to know who she's after, I mean I guess we could help. I'm just trying to get back on her good side. I mean after everything that happened, I figured she would never speak to me again,"

"Yeah, I bet Anna my Bentley that she wouldn't forgive for at least a year," Nate said disappointedly. "But she seems to have forgotten all about it, and I think it is the grumpy one, Riven,"

"Well, what should we do?" Daniel asked.

"This jealousy stuff, I mean they have a point," Nate said. "Dance with her and see if we get a reaction, we'll go from there, figure out what's going on,"

"Sounds remarkably like Isabelle's plan,"

"Yeah, but how much progress have they made?" Nate questioned. "Plus you get this one done for Musa, you guys can finally be back to the way things were,"

"True,"

Everyone sat around a large table talking when Daniel walked behind Musa and rested his arms on her chair. "So, I don't know how you guys do it here in Magix, but where we're from, when he have such beautiful ladies sitting down, we get them up and moving with us," With that he put out his hand formally with a smile that showed he was being funny. Musa smiled and took his hand, not noticing that Riven was staring intently with fire in his eyes at her and Daniel together. Daniel and Musa began their way over to the dance floor when he turned around and looked back at the group. "Well, are you guys gonna step up?"

With that Brandon and Sky both got up and escorted Stella and Bloom to the dance floor. The twins went off with their dates and the only one that was left at the table was Riven. He got up and walked around for a bit then stopped and leaned on a marble column with his arms crossed. Riven had looked at the party, the setting, the people, the atmosphere, it wasn't his place. He would never fit in with the elite class. People like him didn't get to be with people like her. He hated everything about this situation; he hated not having control of what was happening to him, why couldn't he just stop loving her. He had no say in feelings for Musa and no matter how hard he tried, it was impossible to stop thinking about her. He watched again as Musa danced and spun around with Daniel, no matter how much it hurt him, he couldn't stop looking at her. It was a tricky situation. If he did stop thinking about her, which probably wouldn't happen, then in a way he would lose her. And if he didn't stop thinking about her, he would surely go crazy.

Riven was no romantic by any extent, while most people compared love to something beautiful like a rose, Riven thought of it more like a huge hole. The more you let yourself fall victim to your own feelings, the deeper you dug yourself. It was better to ignore your emotions and keep your feet planted on the ground. For awhile Riven thought he was one of the lucky ones who didn't fall so easy to his own desires and feelings. But now it seemed like he had dug himself way too deep and hit seemed like he was never going to get out of the massive hole he had dug himself into. _You can't have her, stop being stupid!_ Riven told himself over and over again.

"Now I'm no psychic, but judging by the look you're giving, you either have feelings for Musa or Daniel," Leslie began. She didn't look at Riven, rather she stood next to him and looked at the dancing couple as well. "But you just met Daniel so I'm gonna go with Musa," She continued with a malicious smile, still looking forward instead of at Riven. She knew Riven was either going to walk away or tell her to leave so she continued before he could do either.

"Leslie Calloway, I don't think we've met officially, but I'm Musa's best friend, she's more like a sister actually. Here's a little advice, girls tend to like it when a guy goes after what he wants," Finally she looked up at Riven, who didn't look back at her, rather he kept the hard look that covered his face the entire night.

"It looks like she has everything she wants," Riven said without looking at Leslie, he then turned around to leave. Leslie, who was glad to get a few words out of Riven, was extremely happy. She had many gifts, the ability to sprint in 3 inch stilettos, breathe in even the tightest corset dress and read between the lines when it came to guys. She was extremely perceptive. She knew for a fact that Riven liked Musa since his past behavior showed it to be pretty obvious, but something was holding him back and Leslie managed to figure it out. She was actually surprised Musa hadn't, it was pretty bleeding obvious.

"Heads up, Romeo is leaving," Daniel whispered in Musa's ear while she was dancing around with him. Musa nodded and causally walked out of the ball room a couple of seconds after Riven did. The guy that she wanted was Riven, hopefully this mini-plan helped a little.

* * *

Bloom was dancing with Sky when she saw Lily, a pixie that was supposed to accompany their pixies to Pixie village. She came in a hurry and flew straight to Bloom when she saw her. "Hey Lily, what's wrong?" Bloom asked as she turned to the panicking pixie.

"The witches…." She said trying to catch her breathe. "They attacked us, they have the Codex," Bloom didn't say anything, she just walked quickly around the room looking for the Winx Club.

* * *

"Riven," Musa said, but Riven didn't stop, he heard her, he just chose to ignore it. "Riven, where are you going?" Musa said finally stopping him when she put her hand on his shoulder.

"What's up Musa," Riven said trying to brush off the hurt and longing in his voice.

"You know it's rude to leave a party without thanking the host," She said coyly trying to joke around with him even though it was obvious the only thing on both of their minds was what happened between them a few days ago. She honestly had no idea how to approach the situation, she was admittedly jealous of Olivia and she really wanted Riven to be straight with her for once.

"I'm sorry, must have forgotten my manners," Riven shot back a little spitefully. "Tell prince charming I say thanks, it was a hell of a party,"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!?" Musa yelled and grabbed his hand delaying his departure, which he was trying very hard to get back to.

"Nothing okay," Riven realizing he was still speaking with a harsh tone. He quickly corrected his tone hoping Musa didn't catch on as to why he was so upset. "Nothing,"

Musa wanted to ask him about what happened between them that one day, but she couldn't work up the courage. Her hopes for them did soar when she found out that Riven broke up with Olivia just one day after they had their kiss and she couldn't help but think that maybe it had to do with her. Riven noticed the look on Musa's face and he could sort of tell she felt uncomfortable with him and he knew why. He decided to do the one thing he knew would keep his secret, leave. "I'm just gonna go Musa,"

"Excuse me young man," said an old man walking into the hotel as he addressed Riven. He looked like one of the many royal guests that were staying at the Luxe hotel for the party. "When you address the princess, you will address her as your highness,"

"No that's really not necess- ," Musa said noticing the look on Riven's face. He looked and felt like he was so far below her.

"No please," Riven interrupted before Musa could say anything else. "My apologizes, _your highness,_" Riven said repeating 'your highness' a couple more times in his head hoping that it would finally sink in for real so he could stop everything he felt for her. When Riven called her by her formal title Musa saw what seemed like hurt in his eyes and she couldn't help but think that she had maybe figured out what had been standing in the way of her and Riven's relationship. (5)

He turned around with every intention to leave when he heard the doors to the ballroom swing open and Bloom yelled.

"Witches! Pixie Village, we need to leave," She managed to spit out as she and the rest of the Winx Club followed by the specials ran out of the ballroom and outside immediately. Riven followed them, but Musa stayed behind for a second.

"What's going on!" Isabelle asked breathlessly, she had run from the dance floor all the way out to the lobby.

"I have to go," Musa said removing her tiara and handing it to Leslie. "Take this back to the palace for me," Leslie nodded and Daniel and Nate walked out to say goodbye to the musical fairy.

"Musa we can help –" Nate suggested. They may not have been used to fighting witches constantly, but all of them were trained by some of the universe's most skilled fairies and knights, so they could be some type of assistance.

"No you guys stay," Musa insisted. "Don't worry, I'll be fine, I have to go," With that Musa ran out of the Luxe Hotel and transformed to her Winx form as quickly as she could and caught up with the girls.

"And she's off," Daniel stated taking the tiara from Leslie. He was going to her palace in a couple of days with one of his friends so he would give it to her father then.

"Well Musa was never one for big royal affairs," Annabelle commented.

"Yeah because we just love them," Nate shot back sarcastically and turned around to go back inside and in a couple of moments the rest of them followed.

Musa flew to Pixie Village with the rest of the girls while guys were not far behind. She looked back once at the Luxe Hotel and wished that this wasn't happening, but she knew where she had to be.

* * *

_**1.**_ _If you've read 'the good life' you know who this is, if not then let me fill you in. She's Musa's aunt who is the epitome of the rich royal bitch. She's very stuck in her traditional elitist ways. _

_**2. **__She always seemed like the useless one…_

_**3. **__I realize that I am not following the show's time line or order in which the Codex are taken. Sorry. _

_**4. **__Not that I think modern art is boring or stuffy. But, my dad's business partners and gold buddies always have these annoying dinner parties, which I am dragged to, and I always over hear them talking about art so that I how I thought of this. _

_**5. **__If that little conversation between Musa, Riven and random royal stranger sounds familiar, then you don't win anything. If you figured out that it is the almost the exact conversation between Anya, Demitri, and a random royal stranger then good job! They are from the movie 'Anastasia' and i love it soo much!!_

_Hope you liked this one, the next one will be up as soon as I finish it. I am going on spring break to the bahama's so it may take alittle, but it will be soon. _

_xoxo,  
__princessm_


	9. Back to Reality

_Sorry for the wait! I've been working on my other fic 'Through Azure Eyes' and I kinda put this one on hold for awhile. _

_Chapter 9!_

* * *

**Back to Reality**

Pixie Village was in literal shambles when the group arrived. The damage, however, could not be properly assessed since it was mostly covered by a blanket of darkness that was brought along by the night. The entire settlement was locked away in ice and it looked as if the pixies could only last a couple more minutes in deep freeze before it was too late.

"Sun Power," Stella said waving her septor and shining light down from it, the rays were not as powerful as they could have been since it was late in the night, but it was enough to melt enough of the village to get the pixies free.

"Quick the pixies," Stella said to Bloom since they both had the ability to warm others with their powers. As Stella and Bloom tended to the pixies, the girls looked around to see if there were any clues to see what types of attacks were used by the trix. The boys decided to check around the neighboring forest to see if there were any signs as to where the Trix were hiding out.

When some of the Pixies finally came to, they explained to Bloom and Stella what exactly happened. They told them as much as they remembered about the witches and their attacks and about what they knew about why they had taken the codex. When Bloom and Stella did a count of who was there, they realized that some of the Pixies were captured. "But why would they kidnap some of the other pixies, they already got their Codex?" Bloom questioned.

"We think it was so that they could find out where the other two are hidden," Said the Pixie queen weakly stepping forward to address the two fairies. "They know that they are at Cloud Tower and Alfea, but where they don't know and from what I can guess, they will need to know exactly where they are hidden or else they will be stopped rather quickly. They only have a certain window of time to get the Codex,"

"We need to get the pixies back before those witches hurt them," Stella said with conviction in her voice.

"We will, but for now we need to focus on finding out what happened and getting the pixies back to Alfea, they aren't safe her anymore, especially since the kidnapping," Bloom said to Stella who looked pretty worried about it.

"Yeah, let's try to wrap things up here," Stella agreed.

"This new power that they have is crazy," Musa said pointing out the fray makes and ice crystals that formed in the surrounding area around Pixie village. The forest in the surrounding area of the village remained tranquil, while Pixie Village looked as if it were just hit by a huge ice storm. Not only did that but, the degree of damage gave the girls some insight into how powerful the witches were truly getting. They had definitely been juiced up on something besides their normal dark powers.

"I don't even know where to begin searching," Techna stated dejectedly as she walked around with her scanner out trying to find something, anything that could give them a clue as to what was going on.

"The voice of nature is very weak," Flora said bending down and touching a ravaged bush. It broke her heart to see the forest like this and what was worse was that she couldn't get a clear indication of what caused it. "I can't make out a clear message,"

"We're going to get nowhere," Layla stated with a frustrated sigh. "It's too dark to get any type of clue,"

"But we need to figure out how they got their new power, or what their new attacks are," Techna insisted.

"Guys, I think Layla is right we're all tired and we aren't going to get much done here," Musa added.

"Okay girls, we can go, I'll call the guys back," Stella said walking back over to group with Bloom. "Let's all head back to Alfea and tell Ms. F about what happened. And we should bring the pixies back with us,"

The girls nodded in agreement and made their way back to Alfea with the boys and the pixies.

When the girls arrived back at Alfea they transformed back to their party dresses and went immediately to the infirmary with the pixies. Once Ofelia confirmed that they would all be fine, the girls headed back outside to say goodbye to their heroes.

"Thanks for coming to the party tonight guys," Musa said with an exhausted sigh as the boys stood in front of the ship, it was hardly the night she wanted it to be. Ideally, it would have ended with her kissing Riven again, but that seemed very out of reach, especially now.

"It was fun," Sky said as they all got onto the ship. "The ending sucked, but it was fun," he joked as the rest of the boys got onto the ship. Before the guys took off, Riven looked over to Musa one last time when their eyes locked. When looking into those azure orbs, he felt like he couldn't hide anything from her, so he averted her gaze and walked back onto the ship. He really needed to distance himself from her for now.

* * *

"It seems that we are facing an evil that we could not have predicted," Ms. Faragonda said once the girls returned back to Alfea. They had all assembled in her office and told her everything that happened with the pixies at Pixie Village. "The best approach now will be an offensive one,"

"But, we don't know anything about where they are," Bloom pointed out. "All we know is that they have the codex from Pixie Village and Red Fountain."

"Yes, and I have consulted many of the magical elders and mythical records when the first Codex was taken," Ms. Faragonda began. "I believe that the place that they are hiding out is shadow haunt and that they are going to try to take control of all of the Codex and use it against us,"

"Shadow haunt," Flora questioned with a yawn, "I thought that was a fabled place that was only in storybooks,"

"No, it is a very real place," Ms. Faragonda warned. "But the area is so desolate and rumored to be haunted that nobody ventures there,"

"Not to mention that most fairies' powers become virtually useless down there," Griselda added as she walked into the office along with Professor Avalon.

"I think we should let the girls rest for now and fill them in on everything tomorrow," he suggested.

"I agree," Ms. Faragonda answered. "Girls, we will discuss this with you tomorrow, but for now you should get back to your dorms and get some rest. It has been a long night,"

The next morning the girls were excused from their classes and were asked to meet in Ms. Faragonda's office. The 6 of them knew what this was about, but it was suffice to say that they were all pretty nervous to know what was going on. "Hello girls, please sit," Ms. Faragonda said welcoming them into the room and ushering them into their seats. She then took her place back at her desk where Griselda and Avalon stood on either of her.

"We have been discussing the best course of action for the situation," Griselda stated in her normal serious tone, except this time, there was a hint of worry mixed in. "There is very good reason to believe that going to shadow haunt will help shed light on the situation,"

"We have discussed the situation with Saladin as well and we will be sending you girls to Shadow haunt along with boys so that you will have extra protection if your powers if fail you," Ms. Faragonda began. "Know that this is a very dangerous mission and that you do not have to go if you so choose,"

"Shadow haunt is more dangerous than any place you have ever been," Said Avalon stepping forward and offering advice to the girls. "I know that you girls will be there with your…male companions (**1), **but keep in mind that your first concern is your own safety,"

"Your main mission is to rescue the kidnapped pixies, but when you are there please try to figure out what exactly is going on," Ms. Faragonda insisted.

"If you girls accept to go, you leave later today," Griselda said. "The students at Red Fountain have already accepted the mission, so now it is up to you girls," Griselda said in a way that seemed like she was trying to give them a guilt trip.

"However Flora, since your recent spill, we would like you to stay behind, here at Alfea to manage the mission from here." Ms. Faragonda said and noticed the crestfallen face on the floral fairy. Flora wanted to be of some assistance in fighting the witches and she couldn't say she wasn't upset about not being able to go. "But, you will not be here alone. Helia, a new student at Red Fountain, has not had the proper training to go on the mission just yet so he will be here along with you,"

This seemed to perk Flora up a bit and she couldn't help but wonder if Ms. Faragonda maybe set this up so she wasn't too upset about not being able to go. Either way, she got to spend some time with Helia and that did serve to cheer her up and make up for the fact that she couldn't go with her friends.

"We'll all go on the mission," Bloom said to Ms. Faragonda and the rest of the girls nodded in agreement.

"Wonderful, I knew you girls would step up to the challenge," Ms. Faragonda said with pride in her voice. "The Red Fountain boys will be arriving in a few hours so get some rest and be ready,"

* * *

"Hey girls," Brandon said as he walked out of the space craft and towards Stella. "Ready to go?" Musa looked and saw the five boys get out of the ship, each of them walking over to their respective girl, leaving Musa and Layla standing alone and Riven standing with a scowl on his face.

"Well, we need to get there with as much daylight as possible, so we should get a move on it," Sky said. The guys said goodbye to Helia and the girls did the same for Flora and they all boarded the craft for what would be an almost silent ride to shadowhaunt. Finally, after arriving, to the closest place the ship could land, the guys quickly reran strategy and formulated a plan.

"Techna and I have decided to stay behind and look after the ship," Timmy said a bit nervously in front of everyone, hoping they didn't read too much into their decision to stay behind. Unfortunately for the nervous hero, Stella was quick to give Stella an incredulous look to both of them, causing them both to blush. But Timmy continued on since his purpose for staying behind did have a lot of logic in it, "Since we have never been through this area before, our HPA's will map out our coordinates and it will allow you guys to come back to the ship if you need help, plus our communicators work as well. If anything should happen, someone should be here to make sure that the escape route is safe," Timmy finished as he nervously fiddled with his glasses.

Techna remained silent throughout the entire explanation; she didn't want to further the suspicion about why they were staying behind, so she let Timmy take this one. "That makes sense," Brandon said trying to stifle the desire to laugh at how uncomfortable the two of them looked.

"Okay, since we have that figured out, we need to make search teams," Stella said with a litte too much excitement as she threw a look over to Musa.

"Well, since Flora and Helia have stayed behind and Techna and Timmy are going to man the ship," Sky began. "That leaves 7 of us,"

"I say we all pair up, fairy and hero, since that only makes sense," Stella said with a smile forming on her face, it was pretty obvious to the girls as to what she was doing and Musa was really hoping she would be less obvious about her intentions. "I call Brandon,"

"Sky and Layla," Bloom called out leaving Musa and Riven feeling very uncomfortable. Musa looked over to her friends and gave a look calling out for help. She couldn't very well 'call' Riven given the circumstances and it was clear from his facial expression that he wasn't exactly thrilled about the choice either.

_Great. _Riven thought to himself. It was bad enough that he was so far gone in love with Musa, but now he would be alone, one–on–one, with her and it this was proving to be more than he could handle. But, there wasn't much he could do about the situation. He knew very well that Brandon and Sky wouldn't willingly switch partners with him, not that he wanted to be paired with Bloom and especially not Stella.

Musa was not a big fan of the idea either. She was still not sure if Riven harbored true feelings for her and she wasn't sure what would be worse, if he did or if he didn't. If he did then something was holding him back and that something, which Musa was pretty sure she had figured out, would probably continue to hold him back. And if her didn't, well she would probably be crushed by the harsh reality. But, she didn't want to be stuck in this constant state of not knowing where she stood, so maybe it was best to resolve everything and move forward or move on.

"Alright, so then you can all check different directions and we will give you a continuous stream or coordinates as you need it," Techna said breaking the tension that was so obviously in the air.

"Okay, sounds like a plan," Brandon said as he and Stella turned to go in their assigned direction and Bloom Sky and Layla did the same. Leaving Musa and Riven to turn around and follow their coordinates, except unlike their counterparts, they kept a safe distance between them and said not a word to each other.

"Was that really the best idea, I mean we're on a mission we cant have them bickering the whole time," Brandon said to Stella once they were out of earshot, even for Musa's sonar hearing.

"Emergency situations seem to bring out people's true colors," Stella pointed out very eloquently. "And I think we already know what they are, those two just need to see them in each other,"

Brandon laughed outwardly and continued on with Stella into a cave in Shadow haunt. This was shaping up to be a very interesting mission.

* * *

_1. My teacher used 'male companions' instead of the word 'boyfriends' throughout my entire freshman health class. It was kinda awkward and it seemed like something that Avalon might say._

_Okay there is it is – I know its short and not much happened in it, but it is setting up for the next chapter where I am hoping to have… well you'll see. And again, I realize that this is severly out of order from the acutal events on the show...deal. _

_xoxo  
__princessm_


	10. Complications

**Complications**

Shadowhaunt wasn't particularly the most romantic place in the universe, rather it was probably the best setting for Riven to have to be stuck with Musa. There was no possible way he would be compelled to do anything stupid, like kiss her again. Musa trailed a few steps behind Riven as they silently made their way through the caves trying to figure out where the pixies were and trying to find a way to get to them.

It had been an hour and neither of them had said a thing to the other. Riven continued to focus on the cave and the pathways through it, while Musa tried to focus on her winx so that it wouldn't ware away like Griselda had warned. Even thought the two were trying to think about other things, there was really only one thing on their minds.

Each other.

Riven was trying desperately to keep his emotions under control, he had to. But, it was becoming very hard and the fact that he was now alone with Musa was no help. Why did his friends agree to letting him be around her? He was too attached already and he needed to stay away at all costs. He knew how stupid he was to kiss her that day and now she probably knew how he felt about her. And the fact that she hadn't said anything about it served as proof to him that she didn't feel anywhere close to how he felt about her. And honestly, what did he expect after he kissed her? Was she going to forget about everything that he had done to her in the past year and just fall in love after one kiss? It was pure stupidity and he had to put it behind him. And yet he couldn't. He couldn't get the thought of kissing her out of his mind, he couldn't help but become intoxicated by the faint smell of her perfume that he could smell when she moved closer to him.

But, no matter what he was feeling on the inside, he needed to maintain façade of indifference on his face.

_Say it, say it say it!_ Musa kept telling herself. This was the perfect opportunity to finally get things straightened out with Riven and anything was better than being constantly unsure of where she stood in his eyes. _Just ask! What's the worst that could happen! _Musa asked herself, the worst that could happen was that he would tell her that he had no feelings for her and that the kiss was a mistake, she could handle that…right?

"Riven?" Musa said stopping and turning around to face him.

Until now the entire hike are Shadowhaunt had been completely silent for the two and it was something that Riven didn't seem to mind. It was better that way, if he kept his distance and his mouth shut, maybe everything could get back to normal. He would go along acting like she annoyed him and she would never have to know the truth. Unfortunately, it seemed like the fairy was not going to let this go. "What?" Riven said coldly hoping it would deter whatever she was about to say.

Musa was a bit taken aback by the chill in his voice. "What's wrong with you?" She finally spat out after a few seconds. She did have feelings Riven and she wanted to be with him, but the whole 'I hate you one minute and love you the next' act was getting very old. "Is it so hard to be civil for one day!"

Riven didn't say anything to her, he just continued on his way through the cave and ignored Musa's question, hoping she would let it go and thankful that she didn't bring up anything else. Musa on the other hand was beginning to get really upset. Here was this guy that kissed her so passionately one day and now acted like she had done something horrible to him the next.

"Riven!" Musa nearly shouted as she stomped up to the infuriating specialist with pent up anger bubbling up to the surface. She eventually go up to Riven, who was trying his hardest to ignore her, and put her hand on his shoulder and forced him to turn around.

"What Musa!" He said as he snapped all the way around to face her with his face drawn as if her were ready to rip into her.

"What is going on with you," Musa asked trying to calm down and not argue with him. "Is there any particular reason that you continue to act like an ass to me when I have done nothing to but be nice to you,"

Riven looked at her for a second and fell silent. He turned back around so that she couldn't see how much what she had just said affected him. She was right, she was nothing but nice to him from the second they met, sure they had many arguments when they would snipe at each other, but she was always willing to apologize.

"Not that you deserve it," Now all Musa was trying to do was get a reaction out of

"You win Musa," Riven's jaw clenched at the thought of last year. He said throwing his free hand up in defeat. "You're right, I'm a horrible person, I'm sorry,"

"So that's it?" Musa said with a tone that seemed almost disgusted. "I was expecting more character, but I guess that's too much for me to expect from you,'

"Character. That's funny coming from the girl who dated Jason Warren," Riven said with a smug look on his face that was very obviously trying to cover one of hurt. If she wanted to play dirty, he was a lot better at it than she was.

"You are not one to talk about relationships," She snapped back with venom in her voice. "At least my ex isn't trying to kill me,"

"No Musa, he's trying to force himself on you," Riven shot back. But he couldn't seem to push away the stab of guilt he felt when she brought it up. She had told him that she had forgiven him for the whole Darcy incident after he returned during the witch's siege of Alfea, but he brushed it off like it was nothing. Now, it was clear to him, more than ever that he could never be with her. She was princess, a good person, she didn't deserve what he did to her and he would surely mess things up if she ever let him into her life. "Next time, how about you pick someone you don't need protection from," he finished sarcastically.

"I never needed your protection," Musa yelled. She was sick of being seen as some little princess that couldn't take care of herself. "Nobody asked you to do anything, Riven, you took it upon yourself to punch him in face,"

Musa saw by the expression on Riven's and it was less than amused. But she saw this as an opportunity to maybe get to the root of their little cat and mouse game. "Why did you hit him?" She said in a calm voice.

"Because I felt like it," Riven said obstinately sounding a bit like a stubborn child. He turned away from her and began to walk away when she answered him.

"You sound like a two year old," Musa said annoyed trying to get him to admit that he was protecting her. "Why did you do it, there had to be a reason,"

"Let it go, Musa," Riven insisted running his hand through his hair. "It doesn't matter,"

Musa looked at him with disappointment. He was never going to admit anything, he was too damn proud and it was getting really old. She knew she was starting to piss him off and even though she didn't want to, that was the only time she ever got answers was when they were shouting at each other. "You can't even own up to why you did something, I can see that famous Red Fountain honor has rubbed off on you,"

"Shut up Musa!" Riven commanded. "What would you know about building honor when everything is given to you on a silver platter and working for anything doesn't exist in your little world." He said not realizing what he was saying, his fury and frustration blinded him. "Isn't that right, princess?"

"So I'm supposed to feel bad about the rank I was born into?" Musa hissed. She couldn't deny that it stung when he said it. Was that really how he saw her? Some spoiled little princess that needed pretty jewels and fancy things to be happy. "At least I don't let stupid things like that affect me or what I do,"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Riven yelled back at her and even though she was only a foot away from her, he yelled loud enough for Timmy to hear him.

"You think you are so mysterious, like you're a closed book," Musa began as she dug her finger into his chest. "But I have you pegged. You act like you don't like anyone because you're scared that they wont like you, so you want to beat them to punch, probably because of something that happened to you before. And you're going to let that ruin every relationship you have because you have to be the one with the power, god forbid anyone sees the real you,"

Riven looked at her with disbelief, was he really so easy to read? One thing was for sure, he refused to let her have the last word, he had already lost so much when it came to her, he was going to keep his pride in tact. But again, before he could, Musa began to rant once again.

"You're pathetic, and at least I don't use something as futile as rank as an excuse to not be with someone," Musa spat out spitefully. She didn't realize that she had so much pent up frustration toward him, but for the last year, her emotions were toyed around with and she did resent him a little for keeping her in that state.

"You give yourself too much credit Musa," Riven shot back when he realized he was being rejected by her. He had the chance to make things right between them, he had to chance to just hear her out and make up some excuse as to why he kissed her, but no. In true Riven fashion he had to snipe at her to cover for the feelings that he harbored for her. There was so much he wanted, he could have had her as a friend, even though he knew that would never be what he truly wanted. But, it would have been enough for him, but now he was traveling so far down a road that would eventually push her away for good. But, no matter how much it killed him, it had to be done.

"Do I?" Musa said walking seductively toward Riven hoping to god she didn't look like an idiot. She was so tired of not knowing how to act toward him and she was going with her gut instinct on this one. That kiss was more than just a kiss, she felt something amazing and she refused to believe that Riven felt nothing, and from what she collected at the ball, it was her social rank that was holding him back. So if he didn't want to admit that he had feelings for her, she was going to prove it to him. As Musa approached Riven, channeling Annabelle and her temptress persona, he began to walk backward knowing what would happen if she got to close. No matter how angry he got at her, the way he felt about her wasn't going to change.

"What the hell are you doing?" He asked trying to sound calm and as if what she was doing was having no effect on him. What was she doing? There was no way she had real feelings for him, she was just dating Jason and then there was Prince Daniel, Riven reminded himself bitterly. Was she doing this to prove that he had feelings for her? It's not like anything would be different if she found out, for her at least. Riven would lose the one thing he had, his pride. Why couldn't she just leave things be, go back to her prince and her perfect life and leave him behind, nobody else had a problem with leaving him. Why did she?

"I'm not vain, so I hardly think more of myself than most people do," Musa noted continuing her slow walk toward a now terrified looking Riven. "But, I think you know that I'm pretty good at reading people,"

"What's with you," Riven said swallowing hard trying desperately not to show the desire he had for her. "Go back to your prince charming and your happily ever after,"

"There you go again," Musa said in almost a whisper, locking her eyes onto his. Now, instead of the ridged and seductive façade she had before. Her features softened and she gently reached out and touched Riven's face, causing the hero to flinch outwardly. Musa however did not take offense to this, she was going by her instinct and her instinct told her that he did feel the way she did. "When are you going to stop hiding behind that excuse?"

"Stop it," Riven commanded weakly unable to get himself to push her away. He was close enough to kiss her again, her perfume was taking over his senses and all he could think about was her hot breath on his neck as she whispered into his ears.

"Why did you kiss me?" She said in a soft tone when she was finally close enough to realize that she was having an effect on Riven. She had told him rank didn't matter to her and yet he still wouldn't budge.

"Why?" Musa repeated pulling her face back and looking poignantly at him.

She was only a couple of inches from his face, being this close to her was dangerous; it could make him do something very stupid. Riven didn't realize but he had unconsciously moved closer to her until his hand rested on her waist and he was close to kissing her again. "Musa, I – I," Riven began still deciding if he could tell her or not.

He couldn't help but think that maybe he could be with her. He loved her and he might not be able to give her a castle, but he would always love her. But it wasn't enough, she deserved everything and he was nothing. He had hurt her so much in the past, toyed with her emotions, and led her on. He was a horrible person and she was perfect, they would never work and he wasn't going to have her just to lose her later. That would be worse than anything.

"We came here to get the pixies," Riven said regaining control of his mind and clearing the dust that his buried emotions kicked up. He moved away from her until he was a safe distance so he couldn't kiss her and so that he could get back to a normal state of mind. "This is a waste of time,"

"Riven stop," Musa said trying desperately to get him to open up, she was so close a second ago. He was going to say something, she just knew it, but then maybe he was just trying to let her down without making a big scene.

"Dammit Musa!" Riven said turning back around to see that there was hurt in her eyes. It broke his heart to see her hurting, especially because of him. But, he had to get back control over the situation, he needed to keep things below the surface and keep her at arm's length. "Just take a damn hint and let it go," Riven said finally and turned around unable to look her in the eyes.

"Fine," Musa said crossing her arms as she saw Riven begin to continue on the path. She didn't know what to do now, all that was left was to move on. Either Riven didn't want her or he didn't want to want her, either way they were never going to happen. She needed to move on and when she got back to Alfea she would go on that date Stella begged for her to go on. "That's it, I wont bother you again," she said as she looked at Riven continue to walk in front of her.

She was probably never going to speak to him after this and the tightness he felt in his heart didn't seem to go away. She was going to move on to someone she deserved and deserved her, but this is what he wanted. He had to keep reminding himself that.

* * *

"We have a problem," Icy said walking into the room where Darcy and Stormy were lounging around. The two witches looked up at their older sister and waited for her to continue. "It looks like Bloom and the rest of her pathetic pack are here,"

"We're not ready to fight them yet," Stormy urged, her voice now becoming serious. "We don't have the full power of the Gloomix yet and without it there's no way we can fend off all of – ,"

"Shut it Stormy," Icy commanded. "That's not helping,"

"But we can't –,"

"Stormy, you think way too literally," Darcy interrupted as she walked up to the window of the hellish castle that they were in. She quickly, almost catlike, grabbed a bat and ran her finger over it's fang. "We don't need to get more power; we need to be up against less,"

Darcy then looked over to Stormy who stood up with a look of confusion. "Stay here and try to figure out some way to draw more power from the Gloomix," Darcy ordered her youngest sister.

"And where are you going," Stormy questioned still confused about what was going on and what Darcy was planning to do about the impending situation.

"Taking care of a few things," Darcy said wickedly as she forcefully pulled a fang off the bat that she captured with her bare hand. "Just letting a bit of poison seep in before I take down a part of the pack,"

With that Darcy left the room, leaving Stormy just as confused as she was when she brought up the situation with the Winx Club.

* * *

Musa had thought that the tension in the air was bad before, but now she knew she couldn't even speak to him because of the fight they had earlier. Not that she wanted to, she was still pretty angry about the things he said to her and even though she knew it was all in the heat of the moment, she couldn't help but take some of it to heart. She had figured out at the ball that any feelings that he had for her were being stopped because he felt as if he was below her. What do you say to something like that? Musa took the no prisoners approach and basically told him that he was alone because he chose to be, which probably held a lot of truth to it, but that didn't mean she had to call him out on it. The whole argument seemed to replay in her mind over and over again, she tried to get her mind off of everything, but it was hard.

Riven on the other hand was not trying to get his mind off of Musa, rather he was trying to forget about everything that had happened between them. He had to, he had to start to pull away from her and stop thinking about her. He had managed to do what he had been trying to do since he found out she was out of his reach, he pushed her away. And now that he did, he would willingly suffer all the heartache again to have her back as whatever she was to him before.

Even though the two wanted to fix things between them to some extent, both stayed quiet. Musa was not going to make herself look like more of a fool and Riven was just trying to get through this mission.

The cave seemed never ending as Musa trailed behind Riven as they made their way through the endless maze. Suddenly, Musa felt a chilling presence and immediately turned around. She saw nothing behind her so she continued on her way, then suddenly she felt a sharp pain in the back of her neck. She stopped immediately and her hand snapped to the pack of her neck and she felt something piercing her soft skin. Musa pulled out something that looked like a fang from her neck and began to feel dizzy.

Feeling the blood slowly trickle down the back of her neck, Musa tried to compose her self enough to get to Riven, who hadn't noticed that she stopped and was a good distance in front of her. She managed to catch up to him and she grabbed his shoulder and gathered enough energy to call his name. "Riven," was all she could say before she fell to the ground at Riven's feet.

"Wha –," Riven began icily before he turned around and saw Musa was on the ground.

Riven's heart nearly stopped when he saw Musa fall to the ground. He quickly knelt down to her side and cursed himself for leaving her out of anger. The first thing he did was make sure that she was breathing, which she was, so now all he needed to do was figure out what happened and get her awake. In a frantic attempt to wake her up, he gave her a gentle shake trying by some desperate attempt to see her open her beautiful eyes. When all of his attempts to wake her didn't work, Riven immediately looked around to see what may have happened to her, all he knew was that she fell and there was no indication what she was attacked by anything.

"Perplexing isn't it?" said an all too familiar voice and then with a puff of purple smoke, Darcy stepped forward toward the panicking hero. "How such little poison can have such profound effects?"

"What the hell did you do to her?" Riven questioned when he saw Darcy walk out of the shadows. He looked back down to Musa and realized he had some blood on his hands, Musa was bleeding in the back of the neck. Anger and guilt raged through his when he realized that Musa wasn't going to wake up any time soon and he welded his phantoblade and got ready to fight the witch.

"Funny how you're so apt to protect the girl that has been playing with your emotions," Darcy said to him dodging every swing he made toward her. Riven had never seen anyone move that fast short of a transportation spell. It had to be due to the new powers that everyone was so concerned about the Trix getting. "Poor little puppy dog, how about I get rid of her for you," Darcy teased with a fake pout and imitating pity.

"Leave us alone," Riven commanded making his way back towards Musa in quick steps. He had to be nimble, but at the same time if her ran towards Musa, Darcy was sure to attack him, or worse Musa.

"Why should I do that, you invaded my territory, Riven," Darcy spat out with venom. "And since when is there an _us,_"

Riven looked confused for a second and then realized what she meant, not that he cared. He had to get Musa out of Shadowhaunt and back to Alfea before it was too late, he didn't know if Darcy was telling the truth about the poison, but it was the only thing that seemed to make sense. "I think someone believes what they want to believe," Darcy taunted further. "There is no you and Musa, last time I checked it was Musa and Prince Daniel or a Musa and Jason. And give me one good reason as to why I should let you go. It's far too much fun to watch you squirm like this."

Riven ignored her and picked up his phantoblade ready to attack. He knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't let him go without a fight. But he had to get out of there as soon as he could, he didn't know how powerful the poison was, but it was enough to knock Musa off her feet in seconds. "Aww puppy dog, you're fighting for her," Darcy said mockingly and even though he couldn't detect it, jealousy. "You realize she will never love you,"

Riven knew not to let what Darcy said affect him, but he knew she was right. Musa would never feel for him the way he felt for her. But he knew she only said that to distract him and he would not let her manipulate him, he needed to get Musa help. With that thought in mind,

"You are awfully quiet, what's wrong puppy dog?" She said with a cackle as she dodged another barrage of attacks from Riven. Darcy could have attacked Riven, but she did need to conserve her energy in case she needed to protect the two pieces of the Codex they had stolen from the rest of the Winx Club. Besides the goal of her task was completed, she needed to thin out the pack and that's just what she did. Riven would now hurry to get Musa help since it was so bleeding obvious that he was in love with her, and it would make it easier to take on the rest of the brats that had decided to come down to Shadowhaunt. She could have just as easily poisoned Stella or Bloom, but Darcy had her own personal vendetta and if she managed to kill that nauseating princess in the process, then the better. "I would focus on getting princess here some help," Darcy instructed with a wicked smile. "The poison only takes a few hours to kill a person…"

With that the purple clad witch disappeared into the hellish cave leaving Riven in a panic to get Musa some help. He promptly took the object of his affection in his arms and quickly back to the ship. A million things ran through his mind, it was his fault. If he hadn't fought with her, she wouldn't have walked so far away from him and he could have done something.

She had to be okay, he couldn't lose her.

* * *

_There it is, chapter 10. Hope you liked it. _

_xoxo  
princessm_


	11. Facing the Truth

_Finally another update! Sorry about the 3 and a half month wait. I've been busy. But if you recall, we left off with Riven saving Musa…once again. So without further adue – _

**Facing the Truth**

Musa awoke with a massive headache. It felt like there were a team of firing quads doing target practice inside her head and the last thing she could remember was her argument with Riven. As she slowly opened her eyes she found herself laying on a small bed in the infirmary at Alfea. As she attempted to sit up, trying to ignore the dizziness she was feeling, se tried to remember what was going on. She looked around at her arms and legs and noticed she wasn't badly injured at all, which left her wondering what was going on. That was when she felt a bandage on the back of her neck.

Just then Musa heard the door open and saw someone she really wasn't expecting, walk in. "Hey, how're you feeling?"

"I'm okay," Musa answered. "I don't really know what happened though…" she said hoping he might be able to fill in some blanks.

"Well, from what Ms. Faragonda told me when I found out you were in here," Daniel said as she sat down at her bedside and began to explain. "Umm, I think you were poisoned by something and that guy brought you back here. Oh an a couple of your friends stopped by, some brunette and a guy with some long hair. But you were still out cold so they went back to keeping an eye on the rest of your friends in shadowhaunt,"

Musa sat dumbfounded on the bed and began to put a few pieces that she could remember together. Riven had saved her, once again, and it was right after she had ripped into him because he wouldn't open up to her. And as if that weren't bad enough, she was now feeling incredibly embarrassed since she was not able to protect herself after she made a point of it in her argument with Riven. "Oh…" was all she managed to get out and looked back at Daniel. "Wait what are you doing here?" Musa asked confused, he and the rest of her friends were supposed to go back home yesterday.

"I think the better question is why are you here," Daniel said in a more serious tone. "You went to shadowhaunt and you come back poisoned! I know you like doing your part and helping out, but this is what secret service and armies are for,"

"Daniel, please you don't get it,"

"Get what? The fact that you are putting your own life at risk to go save some pixies or the fact that you are doing this willingly,"

"I have a headache, no lectures please," Musa begged as she rubbed her head.

"Musa you – ,"

"Stop it!" Musa warned getting a little irratated, she knew it was coming from a caring place, but the last thing she needed was another protective person in her life. "I mean it, I am a big girl and I can do whatever I want. Now answer my question."

"I came here to give you something," Daniel said with a present in his hand, it was a small red box with a white ribbon. "It's actually from my mother; but she wants you to think I got it for you, she really wants us to get back together,"

"And the ball probably sent the wrong message," Musa said with a laugh as she rubbed arm where she had felt a bruise, she must have fallen after she lost consciousness. "But tell her I loved it,"

"Why don't you do it yourself when you come to the summer garden party," Daniel said trying to push Musa into going to a garden party that she really didn't want to. It was a it royal event that all her friends tried to get out of and did successfully most years, but since the royal family of Crescendo was throwing it this year, Daniel was expected to go.

"Yeah. I don't think so," Musa said honestly. "I think I might still be a little weak from all this fighting," She joked and looked back over to the door hoping Riven would be coming to see her soon.

"He's on the end of the quad," Daniel said when he noticed Musa's many glances over to the door and he could only guess that it was because of that guy that had brought her here. He wasn't quite sure as to what was going on, but he knew when Musa had a thing for someone and he could tell that she did have a big thing for this guy. "So you can stop looking at the door, if he hasn't made an attempt to see you yet, I doubt that's gonna change anytime soon,"

Musa sat silent, shocked that he had been so blunt about what he had just said. As if she needed to be told once again that Riven didn't want to be with here. "Sorry, I didn't mean it like that, but maybe you should talk to him?"

"Oh and you are just the guru of relationships," Musa said sarcastically as she rolled her eyes.

"Fine, whatever," Daniel said giving up, if Musa didn't want to listen to him, he wasn't going to force it. "You wanna at least explain what's going on,"

"No,"

"Please,"

"No,"

"Come on! You used to tell me everything," Daniel exclaimed, things had gotten a bit awkward with them ever since their break up they year before, but it looked like things were finally getting back on track.

Musa looked at him and finally gave in and began to explain everything that happened.

* * *

While Daniel was filling Musa in on everything that was going on, Riven sat alone in the quad thinking about everything that had happened in the course of the last couple of months. It seemed like every time he tried to help her, he ended up hurting her. And now he couldn't even decide how to go about the situation. He had managed to deny his desires for Musa when they were on the island, when she was with Jason and in Shadowhaunt, and if it wasn't for his slip up with her after the whole Jason Warren ordeal, he would have been fine.

But now everything was different. Musa knew how he felt and it wasn't something he could just take back, no matter how hard he tried. And now he would have to face the one thing he was hoping to avoid from all of this, rejection. Before, as long as he never told her, she could never reject him, but now it was pretty imminent. Not to mention he could never attempt friendship with her. Sure he was no good at it in the past, but no any plans at trying to be friends with her was ruined.

How could he face her now? So much had happened and he didn't know what to think. Musa had tried to tell him that she felt the same way as he did, but he had a very hard time believing it. He had a very difficult time trusting others ever since he was a child, he had grown up alone after he was abandoned by his parents. If she was so taken by him, why would she have dated Jason and how could she explain that prince of hers. Riven had even seen Daniel walking in to see Musa with a small box in his hand. _It was probably some ridiculously expensive bracelet or something…_ he thought to himself. It made him unbelievably jealous to see him here, but There was no way he could compete with that, not that he would even get the chance.

Riven ran his hand through his hair and leaned his head against the wall he was sitting against. Maybe if he avoided her for awhile or ignored the situation all together, maybe it would just go away and they could go back to the way things were. He had survived seeing her with someone else, he could do it again. _Just stay away for awhile_ Riven told himself. They could just forget about it and then start over.

"I don't think we've met," said a voice next to Riven. Riven looked up to see Daniel standing above him with a polite smile. Although Daniel was cordial, Riven wanted nothing more than to hit him, but he couldn't so he just tried to get the prince on his way as soon as possible. "Daniel Cunningham," Daniel said sticking out his hand.

"Riven," he answered curtly as he stood up and cordially shook his hand.

"Have you seen Musa yet? She's finally up," Daniel stated now knowing the entire situation. He was on his way to Magix airport and he wanted to see if he could maybe patch things up later. "I think she wants to see you,"

"Okay," Riven said curtly and walked away. "Nice to meet you,"

For the next few minutes Riven hovered around the area by her door trying to decide whether to go in or not. He really wanted to see her, but he had no idea what to say. He could tell her that he was lying, but would she believe that? Or he could just say hello and then leave, maybe she wouldn't even bring anything that had happened between them. Riven fiddled with the idea and finally grabbed the door knob and opened the door.

But before he could back out of it, Musa saw him. "Hey," she said quietly as Riven looked up and met her gaze.

* * *

_Dun dun dun! Okay the end is near! Again so sorry about the late update, but I've been busy with my other fic and my life so here it is. I have yet to start the last chapter so it may take awhile. (not as long as last time, promise!)_

_xoxo  
__princessm_

* * *


	12. Game Over

_Hey guys! Okay so I know this is a little late (like a year...sorry guys!) but I have a good excuse! If you guys haven't seen already, while writing this story I began dreaming up the 'through azure eyes' series and I simply feel in love with the idea of Musa's own series. Then when I had a chance to finish this after I finished writing 'through azure eyes' i wanted to finish this story, but i couldn;t figure out how to go about it and then i just started to hate the plot and there was awhile when i simply wanted to throw out the story and start again. Anyway, all of that led to me simply ignoring 'Mind Games' up until now. I am currently in Hawaii (i just landed a few hours ago) and before I go out I wanted to post something since the next update on my other story, through azure eyes II won't be for a little bit. _

_Anyway, since it's been awhile how about i recap: Musa meets Jason Warren, a big shot from Red Fountain, and then used him shamelessly to make Riven jealous. this of course worked and Riven ended up hitting him. Then when life got back to normal, Riven and Musa ended up getting a little hot and steamy in his room, which ended bluntly and badly. To make things worse Musa's friedns from vack home came for a ball along with her ex boyfriend Daniel who sent the wrong message to Riven and to Musa. Then after a long argument in shadowhaunt, where they had gone to save the pixies that had been pixie-napped and now Musa's in the infirmary after being hurt and finally figuring out Riven's true feelings. _

_And back to the story, hope you like it!_

**Game Over**

Musa sat on the bed, with her legs swung over the side as if she were going to get up, rubbing her arm nervously as Riven stood in the doorway. The silence lasted for a few more dreadfully long minutes before Musa finally said something. "Thank you," she began looking up at Riven, who simply stood at the doorway looking at the floor, his heart banging loudly inside his chest. "For getting me out of Shadowhaunt,"

"Well I couldn't leave you there," Riven said offhandedly refusing to look at her but seeing her tuck her hair behind her ear from the corner of his eye, god was she beautiful.

"Riven," Musa began again nervously. "That's the only reason you helped me?"

Riven didn't know what to say, she knew how he felt about her, why did she insist on having admit it to her out loud? She had to know how much he had tried to cover it up and come on she knew she was far better than him, why did she put him on the spot like this? "What do you want for me?" Riven growled lowly trying his best to regain some of the composure he thought he had, he was able to hid his feelings for so long, why was he crumbling now?

"The truth would be nice," Musa said calmly hiding the fact that she could barely get her voice out of her throat. She knew at some point she and Riven would have to face their feelings and figure out where to go from there, but she knew there was a very good chance that they wouldn't be going anywhere together. This was probably an ending that wouldn't be very happy for either of them. "We've been playing this cat and mouse game for such a long time, honestly I just want it to be over,"

Riven felt a lump in his throat, she wanted the mind games to end and the truth of it was, so did he. He didn't want to go on pretending like he didn't care for her when it clearly wasn't working. But he knew he couldn't be with her, she was too good to be with someone like him. She may have wanted something now but her feelings would surely change, like she had pointed out in the caves, he had betrayed her for Darcy and done things he never even wanted to think about now. Musa deserved someone who not only wouldn't hurt her but couldn't, and he had proven that he couldn't be trusted with that task.

And yet he couldn't let go of whatever they had going on, if he did now than that was it. He wanted to have the chance of being with here to remain there even though he knew he would never have her; cutting it off now was so permanent and he was already so terrified of losing her. There would be no chance of going back and if he truly wanted to end their chances at a relationship, as he claimed he did, now was the time. He had no idea what to do so he did something that he hadn't really done. "I'm sorry," he told her softly unconsciously walking towards the bed his beloved laid in. "I never meant to put you through any of this,"

Riven finally managed to look at Musa who saw exactly what he meant by the look on his face. She had forgiven him for his betrayal her freshman year a long time ago, but she could still see the guilt was still there. It was both a good and bad thing, she didn't want him to hurt because of it but it also showed he really did care for her, now if only he could simply admit it. "I know," She said softly as she began to play with fingers on her lap trying to say something to make this situation less awkward. "And it was hardly your fault, you can't blame yourself for getting spelled,"

"That's not all," Riven told her. Then looked away, he didn't want to lose her but now that she knew about his feelings he had to end it before he hurt her again. He was bad news and he couldn't bring her down with him and he knew better than to think that Musa would be happy with him, besides she had that Daniel guy and there was no way he could compete with a prince so why bother. Maybe it was finally time to let go, she had already moved on from him, twice. "I'm sorry for what happened that day,"

Musa felt her heart drop when he uttered the words. Was he really sorry about what happened because from what she could tell he was enjoying himself that day, did he really regret what happened? She could just accept his choice to be stubborn, but she had tried so hard to get over him and it got her nowhere, it was clear she would have to be the brave on since Riven was obviously to afraid the take the risk. "Well I'm not, and I don't think you really are either,"

"Musa,"

"No," Musa told him a bit strongly, shutting him up immediately. "Why did you kiss me? And I want a straight answer."

"What does it matter now, looks like you've got prince charming," He retorted angrily thinking about Jason Warren and then Daniel. He had been insanely jealous when both of them showed up in Musa's life but he managed and he would continue to manage. It was clear that Musa was fine with moving on so there was nothing left to explain. He was going to be okay with this or at least pretend to be. Riven didn't want to think about it and he couldn't be in the room with her anymore. "So who cares?"

Riven turned his back to Musa and began towards the door when he felt a tug on the back of his shirt. Musa had sprung out of bed and grabbed him the best she could when a bout of dizziness set in. She was not about to let a little poison stop her from letting Riven walk away without a reasonable explanation, she wanted this issue solves today, and now. "Look, Jason was a mistake," Musa said as she began to feel the floor tilt under her feet, she was really in no shape to be jumping up and walking. "And Da-,"

Luckily, Riven was there to swiftly react, it would have been perfectly played if Musa were acting, he quickly picked her up and then back to her bed. "Are you okay?" Riven asked as he laid her back in the bed, his heart slamming in his chest, he unknowingly stroked the side of her arm. Musa opened her eyes to meet his and although his arm was still between her back and the pillow he made no attempts to move away from her.

Musa nodded and noticed Riven's proximity and saw how much she really effected him. He wanted her and she knew it, all she had to do was drag the words out of him. "Daniel is my best friend, I've known him since as long as I can remember,"

"Musa, I…" Riven trailed off as he took a seat at the side of her bed, his arm still around her waist and his other hand moving up her arm and then daring to stroke the side of her neck. He really had no idea what he was going to say, but he felt he needed to say something to keep himself from pressing his lips against hers.

The musical princess felt a shiver run up her spine at his touch. "I – I'm no prince, you know you deserve –," he began trying his best to convince her of something he as not so sure he believed anymore.

"To be happy," She finished as she ran her finger idly up and down his strong arm, her voice getting softer as he drew closer until they were only a couple inches from each other. "And so do you, and it's about time we stop putting this off,"

Riven could no longer think about anything else, the reasons he had concocted over the years to stay away from her were all gone, all he wanted was her and now was his chance to have all of her. No longer listening to the resistance in his head, Riven did exactly what he knew he wanted. He brought his head closer to hers until their lips met for an instant.

From there Riven pulled her tightly into his arms and pressed his lips to hers and it didn't take Musa to warm up to the kiss and response to him avidly. Her scent overwhelmed his senses and all he wanted was to kiss her more. He loved touching her, holding her pulling her as close to him as he wanted. Moving his hand from her waist up to her neck, Riven gently began caressing her cheek with his thumb. With a small moan of satisfaction Musa ran her hand up from his arm and began to run her slender fingers through his surprisingly soft hair, pushing his head down closer to her.

"Why the hell did you go out with Jason?" Riven said as they parted and a goofy smile grew across his face, leaning his forehead against hers. He was finally with Musa, he could kiss he whenever he pleased, but it still drove him crazy to think of her with anyone else, which was why he needed to know if Musa actually ever felt something for that slimeball.

"Honestly," Musa said looking down at his strong chest, running her hand up it and onto his strong jaw. "I was trying to make you jealous, and he was prefect for it,"

"Yeah, well it worked," Riven said hotly in her hear and then dipped his head back down to meet her lips once again. With a pleasure filled groan he pulled her closer and ran his hands all over her soft skin, it had been what he had been dreaming of for so long and he could finally have her. "Never do that again," he told her firmly and kissed her again.

When the two finally pulled apart Musa leaned her head against his chest and smiled. "Don't give any reason to," She said cheekily as she ran her small hand up and down his chest and torso. She then looked up and bit her bottom lip with a small grin on her face.

Unable to resist, Riven bent down and kissed her again. Through all the mistakes he had made, all the mind games they had played, she stuck by him and it was something Riven could never find in anyone else. He loved her and she loved him, now they could finally be happy.

Together.

* * *

_The End! _

_Hope you guys liked the story! Thanks to everyone that reviewed and sent me PM's asking/begging me to finish the story and thanks for sticking around and being so patient! I'm off to go lounge in the Hawaiian sun!_

_xoxo,  
princessm_


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